Dark Radiance

An improvised meditation on optical and sonic phenomena, beautifully shot on analog 16mm film.

Percussionist Ying-Hsueh Chen is rubbing, twisting, scratching and banging her instruments. And through the unconventional attacks on her cymbals and drums, an eerie world of overtones emerges, mingling with outlandish sounds and undefined rhythms. Shot on 16mm celluloid film, kept in black and white and with constant shifts in perspective, ‘Dark Radiance’ evolves into a deep meditation on optical and sonic phenomena and documentation of a musical experiment. A place where the rays cause the poles to merge, so that glow and shadow, fear and serenity, brutality and elegance become one and the same thing.