Italian Video and Sound Editor Gianluca Licciardi Creates an Analog Aesthetic Pastiche Aptly Entitled "VHS" for SI FEST International Photography Fest!
The VHS format is seemingly inspiring an array of artists around the world to infuse analog aesthetics into their work in a multitude of ways, and a recent offering from Italian video / sound editor Gianluca Licciardi has again upped the analog-adoring army of artistic creations with a visual smorgasbord of video-sourced cinema.
The result is an engaging and eclectic mix of magnetic magic entitled simply VHS. Soaked with video-era aesthetics such as soft color bleeds and wonky tracking galore, and set to a remix-o-rama soundtrack of the dance / pop / rock persuasion, Licciardi’s VHS offers another spin on an affectionate assembly of analog harvested images, and bolsters the current magnetic movement of video influenced art pieces… and that’s pretty groovy.
in my visual works, although I mainly work on sound. There are countless music videos I have edited that are sourced from VHS tapes (most of them featured in VHS), for one of the latest collaborations with underground filmmaker Rick Rodine, the permission to use and edit his experimental short CRAPS for “La Bettola” music video. He gave me the option to wait and use the restored original 16mm film print… but I do really prefer the blurry VHS resolution over a polished one.”
This classic magnetic message along with the play queue and multiple mal-tracked progressions start this mix off RIGHT, mang.
I had the chance to talk with Gianluca as he related the process of collecting and stitching together all the material: “ got the rights from (almost) all the filmmakers involved to use their materials (originally available as standalone videos on my YouTube channel Schlock!)… The same goes for the mixes, too. Every one of them was created with the permission of the performers, most of them being friends.”
A still from the first sequence in VHS loaded with charming tracking issues and surreal sights. DIG THAT.
VHS was featured as a part of an art installation which took place in Savignano sul Rubicone, for the SI FEST International Photography Festival. You can view the entire 15-minute collection RIGHT HERE.
Some classic claymation makes it into the mix... which leads to some implied clay-matin' via S&M antics. WHOA. YEAH.
When asked why he chooses to apply the analog aesthetic to his work, Licciardi explained, “VHS has always been homaged
Who's watching who, man? This dude's not clownin' around with this camcorder, either. Shit is WEIRD.
And he’s not done repping the analog appreciation just yet. Gianluca plans to expand even further into the analog art landscape. He elaborates: “I’m planning to make a physical art installation featuring actual tapes, and sound, but I would really need a lot of them, so I’m always pushing the date forward…”
A radical still from the tail end of VHS. So much magnetic madness in this mix, man.
Hey, we know how that gets, man! But, rest assured, once it’s ready, we’ll all be ready to soak in the stacks and shapes you create with our favorite slabs of cinema. Bring on the VHS fortress of creativity, I say! Stay tuned to Gianluca’s VIMEO CHANNEL for more groovy analog-inspired experimental film and beyond. Josh Schafer