Kumbum 1+1 (1975-1987)

Overview

Kumbum 1+1 (1975-1987) is a variation on author's Kumbum 1 (1975-1987) feature-length alternative film, where 1+1 refers to the film being projected as two parallel (side-by-side) 16mm projections, each playing half of the feature film. Consequently, the runtime of this variation is cut in half. The conceptual design of the film is based on the assumptions and findings of empirical science concerning human perception of visual material. For the purposes of the film, the author of Kumbum developed a complex mathematical structure and, in accordance with it, arranged the visual material into a sequence of (thematically) diverse moving images subjected to rapid montage. This system served as a decoder for the lengths of 12,000 shots, composed of television footage combined with shots taken from the existing filmography of OM production. Kumbum drives and immerses the viewer in the visual, imposing the next piece of information on the brain even before the previous one has been processed.