Wednesday, April 17, 2013

COLONY / TOM COLBIE



Stillness is one of the elements of TOM COLBIE imaginary that resonate in me the most. In his panels, everything seems frozen in time and space. Or just moving at a rate so low that a human eye cannot even notice it.

I guess it's because of that space suit.

Wondering who's inside that suit, trapped by unknown - or forgotten - circumstances in a sort of P.K.Dick desolate crossroad between different realities, could be a rather intriguing exercise. While trying to put all the clues together in a meaningful scheme, we should also bear in mind that the old, good "show, don't tell" magic trick still exists to prevent us travellers from going uselessly too far with our investigations, because some mysteries are better left unsolved.

That said, I have a precise idea about who's hiding safely inside that space suit, but I obviously won't tell it to you.

Silence seems another element the worlds of Tom Colbie are drowned in. Silence is the most natural element we can quite naturally add to stillness. And I guess that this closes our Moebius loop. I wonder if in the strange places depicted by mister Colbie there is no sound at all, like in a giant-sized anechoic chamber, or if some distant, tiny noises are vaguely heard coming from somewhere.

Tom Colbie surely knows all that is peculiar in the surrealist practice. Ernst, Dalì and Jodorowsky might be key parts of the game. I will ask for some answers when I'll have the chance to meet him in person. If this will ever happen.

When elusive Tom asked COLONY to contribute a track for his PARADOX videoclip, I began toying with bizarre ideas about pink and white noise, with some odd sounds and loops and then - strangely - I ended messing around with Now We Are One, the 2010 opener from MEET, MERGE, DISSOLVE.

Needless to say, a few hours later the music had independently evolved in a complete different direction and therefore I felt it was right to allow it to go wherever it wanted to.

The video animations are brilliantly provided by Ag0 and his working unit called E-GAIN.
You can find more informations here.

Many years ago André Breton said that "The imaginary is what tends to become real". Ok, I'll buy that. Personally, when there seems to be no plausibility at all, I find out a lot about myself by sleeping.

Dreams, they are who I really am.


Dive in Tom Colbie's worlds here.


"Sir, this place has only three exits: Madness, and Death”
(René Daumal - A Night Of Serious Drinking, 1938).

Always be elusive.

S.










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