James Whitney was a film director who is universally regarded as one of the great masters of visual music. Over a 40 year period of time, James Whitney was able to create seven films. James Whitney, film maker and also younger brother of John Whitney, was able to create “Lapis” in 1966 after his brother John developed analogue computer equipment. James and his brother also did a lot of film work together as well. “Lapis “ took James two to three years to create. James did this by drawing dot patterns for this film, [^] but the camera was positioned using computer control, allowing each image to be overlaid from multiple angles. In this piece, smaller circles oscillate in and out in an array of colors resembling a kaleidoscope. James’ “Lapis” includes Indian sitar music and is about 10 minutes long.
“Lapis”, along with the Indian sitar music is said to be able to cause its viewers to go into a trance. While I watched it, I found myself getting a little bit dizzy. It was the strangest thing. The use of colors that are used for the film combined with their complex yet slow motion creates a mesmerizing spectacle that seems unreal depending on how into the film the viewer is. There is so much going on in this particular film that it is hard for the eyes to focus on one spot because of the constant changes. Whitney had another famous film called “Yantra”. “Lapis” however was made with the assistance of a modified WWII era M5 guidance computer which the Whitney brothers called the Cam Machine. The motion of the points of light in Lapis was produced by precise motion control of a translucent composition positioned beneath a stationary camera. I love this particular piece because it is very unique and makes your eyes and your mind go in each way and every direction. It is a stunning and creative piece of work
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