All language subtitles for The Profligate Door – Borowczyk’s Sound Sculptures.mkv.stream2

The sound sculptures Borowczyk made

were a kind of footnote
to his work as a filmmaker

and show that his concern
for motion and matter

was essential in his films.

When he takes an interest in sculpture,
he aims to make it move

and he uses matter
as a means to produce sounds.

He has a profound respect for matter,

and I feel he filmed it
like he filmed actors.

He tried to find, inside these objects,

some kind of secret life and to reveal it.

We can see it very well
in these wooden objects.

He made it a point of honour
not to use any nails.

It's a very precise and meticulous
assembly.

No glue, no nails.

The very matter of wood,

the tree itself is supposed
to be expressed by these objects.

There's another object we'll see later,

which, he explained to me,
was made from one single wood plank:

he extracted a sculpture from that wood,

set it in motion,
making it a sound sculpture.

THE TURNING SOUNDBOX

This is the big Turning So un dbox,
as you can see...

It turns around an axis,

an axis with some protruding parts

which make these laminae vibrate.

What is interesting here
is how sound is inscribed in space.

THE GREAT RATTLE

This too can be set in motion.

This is the Grea t Ra ttle.

Used with, Borowczyk insisted on that,
only one finger.

And the place for the finger
is clearly indicated.

We just need to do this.

THE GRASSHOPPER-CYLINDER

This is even more special,

as you only have a piece of wood,

patinated, slightly coloured.
The upper end, as you can see, is red.

And all you have to do is
lift it and let it down,

again on a vibrating lamina.

There was a problem and a paradox
with these things.

Borowczyk conceived them as objects
that the public should handle, touch.

When we organised that great exhibition
in 1997 here, in the Chateau d'Annecy,

I asked him,

"Will the public be allowed
to handle these objects?"

And his answer was,

"Only the curious
will be allowed to do so".

Which meant everybody could touch,

only curiosity was required,

but it was also pretty obvious

he didn't want just anybody
to touch these objects.

Of course, the various exhibitions

during which these objects
were on display

made us realise how fragile they were

and today we think it is better

not to let the public touch them.

THE RED ORGAN

A red organ with one single key,

and you obtain this.

This piece belongs
in Borowczyk's sound sculptures,

but its title is Silen ce,

and it is very silent indeed,

which doesn't exclude motion,

as you have a board
sliding between some other boards,

and these two wooden triangles,
these "wings",

go up and down
in tune with the board's position.

Right now, I am moving it,

but normally its position is determined
by the atmosphere,

by the degree of humidity in the air.

When the atmosphere is dry,

the board will slide down between
its neighbours in a more drastic way

and its wings will open.

Conversely, when humidity increases,
the wings will close down, gently.

Borowczyk explained that this object
could possibly be used as a barometer.

HIGH PRECISION TURNTABLE

This is the L ittle Ra ttle,

which was made from one single plank,

Borowczyk always insisted
on this peculiarity.

No nail, no vice, no glue.

Everything comes from the same tree,
from the same plank.

And this sound sculpture,
this L ittle Ra ttle,

must be handled this way.

SEPARATE PART,
FEMALE AND MALE

In this series of sound sculptures,
there are some perfectly silent pieces.

Here the female separate part,

there the male one.

They have to be displayed
next to each other,

but can't be really jointed.

When you look
at their respective designs,

you understand this one is a male part,

an impression confirmed
by this fairly suggestive red colour.

Here it's less obvious.

This crown of small blades is reminiscent
of some other sound sculptures

and you also imagine it in motion,

but these two parts are an odd couple
and won't be set in motion.

They are just lying next to each other.

Male and female.

SWISS SOUL

This is the S wis s So ul.

We are looking at the back of it.

And of course...

THE PROFLIGATE DOOR

This is The Pro fliga te Door.

You'd believe it's impassible,

with these hammers on the plank

but, should you be curious...

and should you fidget with it,

beware this hammerfall!

THE HIGH-SPEED ARROW

The High-Speed Arrow
is absolutely motionless,

but will be activated

by a simple stroke
on this protruding red part

and go all the way down

through these wooden plates.

Another piece conceived
to surprise the public, to frighten.

Usually, we have to be quiet
when visiting an exhibition,

and can't touch anything,

but these small red protruding parts
are very tempting.

We feel the urge to press them.

But The High-Speed Arrow
will tell us off.

We have a problem
with one of the wooden plates.

The arrow gets stuck.

There we go.

THE COLOUR RED

Most of these sound sculptures

are relatively dark and one-coloured,

sometimes
it's just the colour of plain wood,

but, and this is something we often find
in Borowczyk's films,

they include little strokes of colour,
especially red.

The colour red
brings something dramatic,

or even disturbing,

to these pieces
which are supposed to be handled.

THE BLACK MAGIC BOX

Here is The Vibra ting Bla ck Box,
or is it The Bla ck Vibra ting Box?

It is on display, of course,

but it jealously keeps its secret,

and only the very curious will,

if they stroke it, discover its vibration.

Only the ones who are a little too nosy

will get this weird reaction

from this a priori unfathomable box.