Trim Subdivisions

This tape deviates from the more purely formal investigations of Snyder’s earlier work; it has no soundtrack and uses camera images exclusively. Employing Quantel digital effects and editing procedures, a novelty in video post-production at the time, Snyder manipulates images of tract houses shot in a small Indiana town. Cubist re-constructions of the monotonous facades fracture spatial planes into intricate geometric arrangements, with frames enclosing frames, spiralling like Chinese boxes. Based upon the confining regularity of the architecture, the repetitive box-form serves as a metaphor for the regimentation of life in industrial societies, while the silence suggests tension and aridity rather than serenity. The rhythm of the wipes that unfurl from the borders is emphasized by the eerie stillness.

This title is also available on Bob Snyder: Sound and Video 1975-1990.