Aaron Michael Smith

Exploring the musical concept of "release," this film is a haunting found-footage study in the plurality of visual and auditory meanings of the term. A series of collaborative works pairing artists working in visual and auditory mediums, the Études meditate on individual musical concepts through experiments with sound and film. Étude 1a: Release (I) is the first in this series and is directed by filmmaker Russell Sheaffer and composer Aaron Michael Smith.

Created by burying a 16mm print of "Disco Fever" (1978) in the earth and allowing the film stock to begin its decomposition process, "Decomp Disco" queers the gazes of its characters, imagining lust in the glances of two women on a disco-fueled jumbo jet. Through repetition and degradation, this found footage film reclaims and reimagines a campy piece of film history straight from the dust bin.

Exploring the musical concept of "release," this film is a haunting found-footage study in the plurality of visual and auditory meanings of the term. A series of collaborative works pairing artists working in visual and auditory mediums, the Études meditate on individual musical concepts through experiments with sound and film. Étude 1a: Release (I) is the first in this series and is directed by filmmaker Russell Sheaffer and composer Aaron Michael Smith.

Created by burying a 16mm print of "Disco Fever" (1978) in the earth and allowing the film stock to begin its decomposition process, "Decomp Disco" queers the gazes of its characters, imagining lust in the glances of two women on a disco-fueled jumbo jet. Through repetition and degradation, this found footage film reclaims and reimagines a campy piece of film history straight from the dust bin.