Forcefield Video Collection

1996-2000, 19:44 min, color, sound
1996, 2:20 min, color, sound
 
1996, 2:10 min, color, sound
 
1996, 2:08 min, color, sound
 
2000, 10:44 min, color, sound
 
2000, 2:53 min, color, sound
 

Forcefield Video Collection features the group's earliest videos. These loosely-wrought narrative vignettes combine Forcefield's shrouded figures, handmade props, and a range of evocative backdrops, brought together by hyperkinetic editing, video effects, and vivid electronic soundtracks.

Video I appears to be a short story without resolution. We are given the following disparate clues: A repetitive, static-like noise; flashing portraits of a stuffed, chattering robot; overlapping, abstract animations; and images of walking and tapping knit booties. In Video II, three shrouded, hypnotically bobbing characters are animated by a continuously rolling moon, abstract flashing blobs, and a repetitive electronic soundtrack. They then scatter from one end of the screen to the other. In The Sad Robot a friendly-looking robot is struck by a laser in a field. Video III combines glimpses of a frenzied, cultish congregation, sketches reminiscent of a children's TV program, and a rich, noisy electronic soundtrack. Live 2000 documents an energetic and intriguing performance at the Safari Lounge in Providence, Rhode Island.