Empty Cabinet
Empty Cabinet
3:00
Video
with commentary by Amani Olu
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Empty Cabinet is a collection of views seen on the ground glass of a view camera. Though a haze of in-camera effects (inversion, acute viewing angle, and shallow depth of field), the video is a reenactment how photographers of the past would have seen their subject. While the video shot is high-definition, the cumulative mechanical effect is that of a crude telecine.
As an analogy, the faux-concrète soundtrack is the sound of vinyl record being played by a folded paper cone, which creates an unstable stylus and amplifier. The record is amplified by direct physical contact, generating a tinny vibration.