“Everloving Salome” is a video patch created in the program Isadora. The video above is a five minute excerpt from a three hour session in which the patch ran autonomous of any user intervention. I was inspired by Todd Barton’s “Krell Patch” to create this patch. Credit is due to musician Jacob Hamilton Isaacs for introducing me to this concept. We previously collaborated on a video called “Krelltanz” which features his interpretation of the Krell Patch.
Although the mechanisms aren’t quite the same as Todd Barton’s creation, the concept is similar. The effects are created by random numbers generated by my computer which trigger different envelopes and oscillators which dictate all aspects of the audio and video: the playback speed, position, length and special effects (luminance keys, mixing, delay, displacement, etc). The goal of this is to “bring out the soul in the machine.”
The video footage is taken from a 1990 Deutsche Oper production of Richard Strauss’ opera “Salome” featuring Catherine Malfitano in the role of Salome. The footage is from the finale of the opera in which Salome is presented with the severed head of John the Baptist.
© 2020 Matt Plain