Chants

1975 · 15 min

“After three very hectic films, I needed something to soothe my nerves. I came across these Coptic crosses in a Greek souvenir shop. and at the time I also heard some Gregorian chants. I thought these cheap plastic crosses looked really beautiful...and I shot them against black velvet so that they appeared to float, emanating something, in a deep space...kind of heavenly images. Nothing much happens...it's really a meditation. Funnily enough I found that the Hare Krishna Movement (which was flourishing at the time) rented the film out a lot to use at their camps. Another time Albie [Thoms] used some of the footage on GTK [ABC TV's youth/pop program], where it looked very odd indeed. I believe that Gregorian chants were in the hit parade only recently. This sort of spirituality touches all kinds of people...” (Paul Winkler)