25) JAPAN (2015)

25) JAPAN (2015) from Matt Sheridan on Vimeo.

JAPAN 2015 is a compilation of five painting-in-motion videos (4 documentations of installations, 1 source video and 1 cinematic portrait) made while Sheridan was on artist residency at PARADISE AIR in Matsudo, Chiba, Japan from 12/15/14 to 2/28/15. This work was made courtesy of PARADISE AIR and its directors Junpei Mori, Shoji Wataru and Kanoko Tamura; the Matsukai Community Council with funding from Japan Agency of Cultural Affairs / Bunkacho; and finally the participation of all the locations and managers in the Matsudo area who let us project and shoot on their premises and property. Thank you Matsudo for being wonderful hosts to Sheridan and his work!

00:00 - 02:21 -- Matsudo Shrine Kaguraden
The single channel painting-in-motion of 1/24/15, Shrine Kaguraden, was the first new projection Sheridan was asked to undertake upon arrival in Matsudo. A number of site visits followed, all of which begged the question “what kind of projection is necessary for a structure already beautiful and already loaded with purpose?" Once performances were assigned and the structure was gridded, it became apparent that stage and side could be lit by ambient color field textures, the top punctuated by arcs, all informed by abstract interpretations of Shinto practice. This premiered Sheridan’s new work to the greater Matsudo public.

02:21 - 04:04 -- Madroom
a recording of live-mixed painting-in-motion made during gigs at Madroom 2 (ambient dance music @ Fanclub, Matsudo; curator: Shoji Wataru), Valentine’s Day (jazz at Jam Cafe, Matsudo; curator: Shige Someya), and Funktion (hip-hop in Kawasaki; curator: Rika Tomita)
The biggest surprise for Sheridan was integrating live mixing of his painting-in-motion content for music performances during his time at PARADISE AIR. An invitation by a Paradise Air director to VJ at a gig in Matsudo opened up Sheridan’s practice immeasurably and unexpectedly, giving him the opportunity to practice techniques he learned in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil the previous August. Practicing to different kinds of recorded and live musics enabled Sheridan to expand upon and demonstrate music theory present in his work by composing it in real time. Previously a bassist, Sheridan was pleased to be “in the band” once again.

04:04 - 05:21 -- Clinic Mirai FKA Cinema Matsudo
The Tokatsu Clinic Mirai projection of 1/31/15 in Matsudo was a dual channel version of the painting-in-motion composed live during the Madroom set at Matsudo’s Fanclub Thursday 1/29/15. Titled FKA Cinema Matsudo, the work was projected on the facade of a medical clinic which only 3 years ago was a cinema. Originally composed during a dance party, when the work was projected large across the facade -- and light, keeping the grid of the facade visible -- its design, coloration and movement created an abstract manga conflating violence of the cinema with everyday struggles of life and death in hospital.

05:21 - 07:25 -- Vanishing Point (Make Waves) at Morita Clinic
Sheridan’s final painting-in-motion projection in Matsudo was a 3 channel affair entitled Vanishing Point (Make Waves). Presented across the triangular facade of the Morita Clinic during Friday night rush hour on 2/20/15, Vanishing Point was presented within a 45 minute time span as compared to the two hours allotted for previous works in Matsudo. This was among Sheridan’s favorite works made in Matsudo alongside Madroom (composed via live-mixing) and Matsudo: Ebb + Flow (his project proposed specifically for Matsudo) primarily because, as in Sheridan’s previous best work, it is what it does as reflected in its title.

07:25 - 09:50 -- Matsudo: Ebb + Flow
The locations pictured here (Takahashi house, Tojo Tei, Matsudo Radio Station, Deiei Mall and bar Noguchi-ya) are all featured in Sheridan’s short cinematic portrait Matsudo: Ebb + Flow, the original project Sheridan proposed for his inclusion into the 2014-5 PARADISE AIR Long Stay residency. During late January and early February, thanks to coordination from PARADISE AIR, Sheridan visited, projected and recorded his paintings-in-motion within all these locations at least once, with the aim of making a film about Matsudo using the same techniques used to document his painting-in-motion public projections and installations, while integrating the long take / kneeling camera / geometrical framings of Japanese masters like Ozu and Kurosawa into the work. The 2 minute excerpt shown here serves as a trailer for the final work, which is 10 minutes in duration.