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In Buddhist architecture, the pagoda symbolizes Nirvana, the state of enlightenment. In Radio Island, this metaphor is expanded to include the entire built environment and the whole of ordinary consciousness. Mutating images of ancient and modern Japanese structures develop within a complex electronic score of radio signals and data transmission. Unusual editing techniques weave these images and sounds into a dense field of improvisation. The resulting texture becomes the raw material for totally new forms. Through a sea of noise, Radio Island charts a course from architecture to music; from the referential to the absolute.
Space Splice is a form of conceptual architecture that could only be realized in video. Forward motion and edits connect interior volumes shot in The United States, Europe, and India. The viewer experiences unimpeded movement through a network of hypothetical spaces. “Space Splice affects a transformation, rendering corridors, passageways and tunnels in new ways… McElwee creates an imagined architecture that builds to a dizzying peak.” - Jess Learner, Curator, Long Beach Museum of Art “In Space Splice, McElwee’s fish-eye lens steadily wanders among countess settings as he creates a new folded space that advances in time, stretching out into infinity.” - TL Reid, Afterimage “Watching Space Splice is like watching Bach.” - Peter Rose, Filmmaker
Elevator music branches and flows in new directions. Unadorned concrete structures exude layer upon layer of natural scenery. These virtual vistas unfold in surges, accompanied by mutating Muzak. Natureland reflects the crucial process by which we navigate the nested realities of our programmed environment, embracing illusion and its mechanism, weaving dissonant strands of experience into a pattern that we can call "our world." "The expansion of consciousness, the creation of timelessness and the generation of new worlds embody beauty without boundaries in Van McElwee’s video art. His work is challenging; it compels us to experience, perceive, and ultimately to live more fully." T.L. Reid, Afterimage “Breathtaking,” David Finkelstein, Film Threat
Paranoid schizophrenic murders his neighbour. Seeking help approaches his long term friend but struggles to come to terms with incident
