art > video

Rafael Toral's videos are focused on the "ambient video" concept, an image in motion that is in some way static at the same time. With a total lack of narrative, the image is meant to become part of a space. Like a screensaver for TV, it does not begin or end, the viewer can walk away or come back at anytime, watching with any level of attention. Done with home equipment, these works have a lo-fi texture and are usually monochromatic, through the use of color filters. "The images i use are always of something that i have found fascinating for a long, long time, often since childhood."
 

Blue (2002)

Produced for the Electric Babyland tour and also used for the Harmonic Series tour, deceptively simple and surprisingly beautiful. A fixed camera pointed at the sky. The recording is unedited and unaltered.

Glider (1999)

A video shot from the window of a train, a high speed texture gliding horizontally. Unlike the other videos, this one is not slow-motion but real-time and the image is not processed, just straight to tape. Made to be screened with the recent feedback live piece "Engine".

Air Pass (1997)

Air Pass was recorded near Tehachapi in Southern California in October 1997. "I had the images in my mind since i finished Power Field. As i was driving alone, i fist thought i wouldn't be able to record it (the images had to be recorded in motion), but i ended up going crazy and spent an afternoon shooting video while driving. I took later a few images for the cover of the Aeriola frequency CD."

Power Field (1995)

Power Field was originally conceived for simultaneous screening with performances of Wave Field. It was recorded on the A2 highway to south of Lisbon. It was also presented as a video installation. The base track for Wave Field bacame the soundtrack for the installation tape.

 

Flyability (1994)

Most of Flyability was recorded in Lisbon, very close to the top of one of Lisbon International Airport's landing tracks, in February 1994. It provided an image source for the cover of Sound Mind Sound Body CD. It was released on Ananana as a homemade limited edition. The soundtrack is a long mix of "AER 7 E", on the same CD.