I'm back working on the sountracks for La Coquille et le clergyman (The Seashell and the Clergyman) by Antonin Artaud and Germaine Dulac, and Un Chien Andalou (An Andulasian Dog) by Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel. The Seashell and the Clergyman is an experimental French film directed by Germaine Dulac, from an original scenario by Antonin Artaud. It premiered in Paris on 9 February 1928. The film follows the erotic hallucinations of a priest lusting after the wife of a general. Conflicts between the clergyman (Alex Allin) and the soldier (Genica Athanasiou) symbolically examine the effects of authority and conformity on society. The Seashell and the Clergyman is widely considered the first surrealist film. I'll be composing and arranging both soundtracks in keeping with the central principle used in the creation of the surrealist films, that of 'Psychic Automatism,' the divining of the unconscious, the returning to the mind its deepest functions, beyond any form of control by reason or societal conditioning. I'm utilizing and re-purposing material from my archives for the soundtracks, including prepared piano and extended techniques by Achim Kaufmann, guitarchitecture by Chuck Hammer (David Bowie), piano, bass, and electronics by Eberhard Kranemann (Kraftwerk), drums by Keiron Melling (The Fall), modular synthesizer by Suzanne Ciani (Bryan Ferry), aeolian harps and electronics by Max Eastley (Brian Eno), soundscape by Hans Peter Kuhn (Robert Wilson), and many others, as well as texts and vocals by myself, Antonin Artaud, and Salvador Dali. I'm aiming to do a live performance version of the soundtracks for Un Chien Andalou and La Coquille et le clergyman, in conjunction with screening of the films, mixing, arranging, and re-composing them in real-time. This would take place at the cinema which both of the films premiered at, the Studio des Ursulines, in Paris, which still operates today. Pictured above is a still from Un Chien Andalou, from the famous "slicing of the eye" scene.