From Parts to the Whole

I am offering here a myth in the best sense of the word. It is just a sketch about what has been happening since the Big Bang until now. Just a sketch full of rough edges from my thinking that God is making more than we realize, but that we have over the last few millennia begun to observe the process.

This is my short art film
“World of Particles – images and chants from parts to the whole.”

The project started with a month of painting the original composition in October 2020 from thoughts about being individual parts of a greater whole.

This inspired the blog post for December 2020 which I think is worth another read HERE.

From that blog post I selected 10 phrases which represented the essence of what I had been exploring. These I used to make non-traditional choral expressions emulating humanity’s voice trying to state truths about reality we are endeavoring to learn. You will hear the words of these phrases assemble in the film as follows:

“Love
This love ethic, this energy, this life makes me a working part of the greater Body.
Not just emotion, the love ethic is an orientation to life.
Minute deed and word in the little place where we live moves the larger whole;
Minute parts harmonizing with others exponentially over time.
The cumulative constancy of small particles over time moves the greater body along;
The wonder that my word and deed touches someone somewhere now or in the future.
Minute deeds feed the unstoppable ground swell of goodness and life
Like mustard seed.
We are seeds in exponential growth of new creation covering the earth as the waters cover the sea.
To lay down your life for others, there is the greatest love.”

Ultimately I needed to notate the voices as music and that suggested an accompaniment of a wind quintet. So, I explored the theme in music composition.

The music provided order and timing for camera moves and motion graphics treatment of the painting. Once it was recorded and mixed as 10 sequences I began the long process of exploring the visual mysteries of the painting I had done in October as it evolved from black and white sketch to a large, colorful collage of images.

This six-month process was an homage to the process our Creator is conducting on the supreme scale.

The tools I used included the following:

• Adobe Photoshop – drawing and painting
• Adobe After Effects – motion graphics
• Adobe Audition – audio editing and mixing
• Adobe Premier Pro – filmmaking
• Musescore – music composing and notation
• Yamaha Motif ES8 Synthesizer – instrumental music
• Zoom H4n digital audio recorder