{"id":4,"date":"2010-05-07T04:17:41","date_gmt":"2010-05-07T04:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/?page_id=4"},"modified":"2026-08-01T12:48:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T17:48:18","slug":"video-art","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/?page_id=4","title":{"rendered":"Moving Image"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proteus Blooms<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2025<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In this one-shot video, natural elements ascend from unknown depths \u2013 exploding outward and pushing toward us. \u00a0<\/span>In the similar way our minds internalize<\/span> and recontextualize our visions of climate events, human destruction, and nature\u2019s sheer grandeur, we engage with an analogous unrelenting force in this liminal place. \u00a0The manipulated ambient soundscape and the altered perspective of the composition can transform the imagery into different elements and shapes, reminding us of the emotional weight that we carry. \u00a0It is here where we can try to confront and decode our fears of unknown change, while unfolding new truths about our relationship with nature and its connection with and influence on itself.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4 min 00 sec<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Before The Clearing<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2025<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

One natural element mirrors another in this dreamlike landscape, as conflicting movements of light and shadow reveal a fractured, expressive scene.\u00a0 Water, light, air, and flora layer congruously to create new visual perspectives, while our minds try to reassemble the familiar images and textures that appear out of place and obscured.\u00a0 It is the formal break in this natural imagery, its reconstruction, and our perception of these new arrangements that can allude to connections between our fragmented memories and the disruption and restructuring of earth\u2019s vulnerable symbiotic networks. Commonly, it is the separation and distance we create between these relationships which mentally cloak our influence and soften our fears. The ominous audio sourced from the video recordings of our natural world helps further shift our comprehension of this event – scoring the scene\u2019s clouded reflections of the present that could reveal clearer projections of the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4 min 50 sec<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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In Passage<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2024<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A stark human figure stands in contrast to the expressive terrain in this one-shot moment of time. Organic layers of water, earth, and sunlight interact and transform the landscape into abstract textures while they drift upward into a cloudy field of white. The figure also erodes, blending into the landscape, until it slowly and naturally vanishes from the scene. The ominous soundtrack taken from the audio of the source video footage, along with added synth textures, heightens the surrealism, tension, and beauty of this moment. This place reveals our close connection to it, while we are pulled closer to a different phase of time and space – a reminder of our influence, uncertainty, and mortality within the natural world.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 min 57 sec<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Terra’s Tomb<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2023<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As we slowly move through organic textural fields, we experience<\/span> the unlocking of a new place that lies somewhere between the physical, the virtual, the scientific, and the spiritual.\u00a0 Here we encounter what is both strange and familiar – a world where we entwine with nature\u2019s fluid states – triggering surreal transformations that can mirror our minds\u2019 narratives.\u00a0 These events might feel both close and far away, and as if they have happened before or soon will.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The natural and figurative imagery solidifies not only their connection and effect on each other, but through the video medium, suggests technology\u2019s role in capturing, storing, and revealing new truths from the reimagined footage. The soundtrack reinforces this bond through a combination of digitally manipulated ambient recordings and the artist\u2019s recorded voice – forming a sonic landscape residing somewhere between diegetic sound and musical score.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through our relationship between memory, nature, and technology what is created, stored, and unearthed becomes the catalysts of change – releasing the invisible specters that define our present and alter our future.<\/span><\/p>\n

6 min 19 sec<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Through The Rift<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2021<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The relationship between the information we retain and its imagery we mentally re-envision and reassemble, helps us conceptualize imperceptible events such as the slow moving catastrophe of climate change. Recalling Robert Jay Lifton\u2019s concept of fragmentary awareness, we form surreal sequences from these visual thoughts in order to create our own narratives of the real events that are difficult to comprehend.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this video, natural imagery unfolds into a surreal cycle of destruction, death, and rebirth. The fragmented footage, taken from three coastlines in the United States, is edited into new forms – accentuating nature\u2019s close interplay with itself and us. The soundtrack, taken from the ambient sound of the source footage, is manipulated and layered with synth drones – reinforcing the intense and uncanny relationship between memory and reality. By dramatizing these natural moments a light is cast on our environmental impact and the overall power, horror, and beauty of nature itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

6 min 58 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Wake<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2020<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A woman looks at us, as she contorts and reforms amongst a sky blue field. Through the organic layering within the composition the subject and setting conjoin. Nature dictates the majority of what we see, and the scene\u2019s surrealism is enhanced through manipulated ambient sound and electronic drones.<\/span><\/p>\n

When immersed in a dream or recalling our past, we struggle to see the full details. We attempt to hold on to the impalpable. The moment in time in this work appears close, but it is slightly out of reach. A new figure enters the space and appears to interrupt the woman\u2019s solitude – or possibly contributes to it, while we continue to decipher our connection with her.<\/span><\/p>\n

4 min 55 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Gloriosa Superba<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2019<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

From an unseen source, ominous plumes release into the atmosphere from above. Its uncanny beauty coincides with its unsettling terror, as the synthetic mixes with the natural. The imagery and sound in this one-shot video are digitally manipulated, taking us into a surreal yet familiar place. A black bird cuts across this environment through the blossoming cloud and into the foreground. These two entities share the same space and time – possibly warning us of an inevitable future.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 min 50 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Beyond Delta<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2018<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In this abstract environmental landscape, space and time are continuously being reshaped. As with dreams and memories, the imagery lies within the boundary of the familiar and the surreal. The layered and distorted textures taken from across the United States (New Mexico and Illinois) reveal that nature\u2019s connections are closer and greater than they appear. The soundtrack, edited from the source footage, further dramatizes this cycle of transformation. We are transported into a place of otherness where the transitory can also, paradoxically, seem enduring.<\/span><\/p>\n

7 min 30 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Borderland<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2017<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In this one-shot video we witness a representation of life\u2019s flux via an organic collage of layered reflections and manipulated audio taken from the source footage. By exposing and dramatizing continuous change and inevitable demise, we can challenge the fear of and fascination with our oscillations towards the unknown.<\/span><\/p>\n

Natural elements set this scene, as the subject\u2019s luminiferous body contorts and dissipates into the dark landscape. Its position and form changes as it appears to straddle multiple places – the illusion created by nature, the distortions made by the artist.<\/span><\/p>\n

4 min 37 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Lost Screams<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2017<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Trees that suffer through drought make sounds through their empty collapsed water columns caused by increased pressure within internal tubes called xylem. Xylem normally spread water through trees\u2019 trunks, branches and leaves creating growth and producing oxygen for our world. The audio emitted from these cavitations is out of our range of hearing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through moving abstractions of manipulated forest reflections on water, a visual representation of the trees\u2019 calls reveal themselves. Hints of soundwave imagery appear, and we can see their screams within the sustenance that they need to survive.<\/span><\/p>\n

If we could hear them, would we tend to our planet\u2019s environmental needs with greater urgency?<\/span><\/p>\n

4 min 25 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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A Tear In The Fabric<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2017<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Humans develop systems and structures to feel in control of nature\u2019s constant flux. We create symbols and timeless myths to embellish the mundane and to cope with our mortality. \u201cA Tear in the Fabric\u201d depicts how we see and interpret natural anomalies as miracles, omens, and answers. Through the camera\u2019s angle of vision and sound manipulation, a portion of the ordinary is hidden amidst a background that alludes to the extraordinary. The subject appears alien to this world but, like a philosophy of most video and film, is a lie that reveals greater truths about what we see and what we want to believe.<\/span><\/p>\n

2 min 57 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Day’s End<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2016\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A romantic urban landscape becomes a place of anxiety, relaying the tension of our young century. This single-shot video, reinforced by the manipulated sound from the source footage, merges nature\u2019s beauty with fear. \u00a0A menacing sun follows us through the city – alluding to disruptions of peace, visions of our end, and a reminder that no matter how far our culture and infrastructure evolve, we will never be in full control of the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 min 28 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Give Up The Ghost<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

2016<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This expressionistic single shot video captures one moment of natural movement and patterns. Manipulated audio from the source footage adds the suggestion of horror as nature reacts to itself. The sum of its parts contribute to a larger whole – alluding to the idea that death is necessary for evolution to take place.<\/span><\/p>\n

4\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>min 0 sec<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Light Cycle<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

2015<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

White light streaks back and forth across black space at different rates, absorbed by the woman\u2019s face and then cycling outward again. \u00a0Each flash and spark declares its unique presence through assigned sounds, sampled and manipulated from the original source footage. It is as if the light were the only living element in this fluctuating environment that appears blank and stationary. The initial illusion of motion reminds us of fantastical travel through space and time as we try to connect the visual and aural data into meaningful patterns of cause and effect. The \u201creturn\u201d to our world makes us question what is more uncanny; the science fiction or the\u00a0reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 min 47 sec<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Born Again<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2015<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In this single-shot video, a gull appears meshed within its environment. \u00a0Water, sun, earth, and wind work together to transform its appearance and location. \u00a0Combined, these classical elements create natural, yet surreal, imagery – \u00a0like a dream or a fractured memory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speed is slowed down to emphasize its movement. \u00a0Sound, taken from the source footage, is manipulated to create a sense of displacement and to emphasize a shift in the event. Scale is altered to show that all change, no matter how small, is substantial. Size is relative, and major shifts within our world are overshadowed by what is larger. \u00a0By showcasing this transformation, the subtle becomes dramatic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing stands still in our world. \u00a0From the gravitational pull on Earth\u2019s tides to living beings pulled from birth to death, we live amongst and within infinite events where everything is in the process of change.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Slip Away<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Unrest<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2014<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Memories diverge from the experiences they intend to mirror. They emerge as an alternate reality we create and revise over time. These visions skew, as our minds focus on fragments of the original experiences – sometimes these visions warp the event to the point where they no longer represent the event but create an alternative version, a dream-like new reality that can influence our present selves. Maybe our selves and our lives are built upon this process of useful mis-remembering.<\/span><\/p>\n

In these one-shot videos, “Slip Away” and “Unrest,” buildings hide behind a natural impressionistic haze. The imagery is familiar, but it’s always at a distance, as movement, light, and sound reinforces its surrealism. What we see is in constant flux, and the same can be said of what we view as Truth and Self.<\/span><\/p>\n

2 min 34 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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7 min 3 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Stranger Leaves \/ First Kings Nineteen: Eleven Twelve<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

2014<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This version is a collaboration with poet, Eric Elshtain<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 min 14 sec<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Stranger Leaves<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2013<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Bursts of shuddering movements and explosive blasts of sound, solely taken and manipulated from the source footage, cut through the dark quiet ambience of this distorted landscape.\u00a0 Through the shadows the subject ambiguously struggles toward\u00a0transformation – its outcome blurring the lines between the otherworldly and what actually exists in nature.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 min 14 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Anas Nebula<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

2012<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Lights pulsate and pop within the stark hypnotic field of this one-shot video that contains layers of manipulated ambient sound from the original source recording. A collision dramatically alters the space and displaces the viewer, revealing that patterns made by the human mind are often contradicted by nature itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

2 min 7 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Six Moments Of Clarity<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

2011<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Tension and disorientation build as six symmetrically arranged candle flames stand in silence, gradually coming to life just before they\u2019re extinguished. Using the same repeated shot, the time of their demise is extended by rhythmically altering image and sound while layering the clip\u2019s audio. Not only is a concert of light created, but also an original sound composition is revealed built entirely from a lone sample of breath that blows out the flame.<\/span><\/p>\n

2 min 10 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Reflect<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

2008<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This real-time piece depicts the distorted reflection of the artist’s face on water. Mainly relying on natural abstraction and layering instead of digital editing and filtering, his image is in constant flux when a foreign object breaks through the water’s mirror.<\/span><\/p>\n

2 min 17 sec<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Cityscape #1<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

2007<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Combining the rapid edits of city elements such as architecture, sculpture, lighting, and transportation with the artist\u2019s own cardboard skyscraper creations and video feedback,\u00a0\u00a0 Cityscape #1<\/em> delves into the frantic rhythms of urban modern tension in hopes of moving beyond the weighted pull that daunts our new century.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 min 48 sec<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Proteus Blooms 2025 In this one-shot video, natural elements ascend from unknown depths \u2013 exploding outward and pushing toward us. \u00a0In the similar way our minds internalize and recontextualize our visions of climate events, human destruction, and nature\u2019s sheer grandeur, we engage with an analogous unrelenting force in this liminal place. \u00a0The manipulated ambient soundscape […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":136,"href":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1417,"href":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4\/revisions\/1417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mikeypeterson.com\/new\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}