The City of Los Angeles is one of the world’s primary sources of cinematic and artistic output. Yet, while it has been visually featured in countless films and is the site of much creative genius, it is rarely the actual focus of those works. After years of serving as mere background, however, Los Angeles takes center stage in “Transparent Cities,” an innovative work of film and music that will take place today at the Hammer Museum.
Consisting of a film screening accompanied by a live musical performance, “Transparent Cities” is the collaborative creation of filmmaker Madison Brookshire, sound recorder Michael Pisaro, and musicians April Guthrie (cello) and Cassia Streb (viola). The work displays the artists’ varying areas of expertise as it examines the sounds, light and geographic features of Los Angeles.
The film consists of long video and audio recordings of Guthrie and Streb playing in the field. Rather than have the musicians record in a studio, as is normally the case, they recorded in the atmosphere of Los Angeles ““ one in the neighborhood of Highland Park and the other with a view of the Santa Clarita Valley.
“Cassia and April were interested in field recordings and wanted to incorporate them into this project,” Brookshire said. “So Michael Pisaro … recorded them playing in the environment instead of excluding environmental sounds the way that you would in a studio.”
While this creative approach undoubtedly sets the work apart from its documentary counterparts, the most notable feature of “Transparent Cities” lies in the process of layering both the video and audio recordings.
“Sonically, you have a kind of complex environmental harmony in addition to a musical harmony. That is, Cassia and April both harmonize with themselves,” Brookshire said.
Not only does layering create complexity in terms of audio elements, but visually it creates an eerie quality from which the work derives its name.
“The effect of the layers is that whenever something moves through the frame, a car for instance, it is translucent; but if something, like a house, sits still, it is opaque,” Brookshire said. “We made many recordings at equally spaced intervals throughout the day so that we got a range of lights and sounds. When you make layers out of that, you also get these intense, complex colors because you have two, three or four skies on top of one another.”
The audio and visual elements truly work together in “Transparent Cities,” as the ultimate goal is to convey the essence of Los Angeles. This collaboration affected all aspects of creating the project but was especially important concerning how the sites were chosen for recordings.
“(One) determining factor was the decision to let the sound lead the visuals,” Brookshire said. “In a way, we chose where to shoot based on sound and then I had to make a frame. Sonic considerations determined where and how we would shoot. But there was also parity: Sometimes visual considerations determined how we would record the audio.”
In addition to the abundance of artistic innovation that is packed into the film portion of “Transparent Cities,” a live musical performance by Guthrie and Streb will accompany the video. A vital part of the work, this combination is intended to display and dissect the relationship between reality and recording ““ that is, the difference between what is actually being lived and what is merely represented.
“I think the main reason to pair live music with recorded music and images is to highlight the differences between the two situations,” Brookshire said. “We perceive recordings differently than we perceive life, but sometimes we take that for granted or are even actively discouraged from pursuing the difference.”
“Transparent Cities,” therefore, does not address Los Angeles as one may initially expect. Yet despite its innovative and atypical elements, Brookshire insists that the work is still accessible and even somewhat familiar.
“What we’re doing is in some ways quite traditional: It’s just a work of music and cinema, like “˜Singin’ in the Rain,’ but with John Cage in charge of the camera and sound equipment.”