New Film Features Supernatural Death, Possessed Dancing, Diplo

◢◢◢ SCRIPTURA VITAE † A FILM BY AEROSYN-LEX MESTROVIC † TRAILER ◣◣◣ from Aerosyn-Lex

For his newest film Scriptura Vitae, premiering tonight on Channel 4 UK, New York-based artist and filmmaker Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic created an ambitious three-part journey into the unknown, featuring haunting ritualistic iconography, traditional Japanese Butoh dancing, and a range of techniques employed to produce this beautiful and terrifyingly surreal landscape. Above, watch as Japanese actress Miho Nikaido, best known for her role in the previously banned Tokyo Decadence, and Butoh dancer Maki Shinagawa channel the demons of the possessed, whirl, and contort to a chilling soundtrack featuring original production by Diplo, avant garde producer ACTRESS, and electronic group Plaitum.

The full film was produced with help from the Cannes Grand Lion award winning agency Fake Love, in collaboration with visionary sound designers LISTEN. Working as the co-pilot on Scriptura was Shane Annas, known for his work with pivotal electronic artists such as Mr. MFN eXquire and Araabmuzik.

The film is a departure from Mestrovic's previous work, which included everything from collaborations with Jeff Koons to commercial projects for MTV, and involves a range of influences: from Latin scripture and traditional Japanese crafts, to cerebral ideas of death and spirituality. Recently we spoke with Mestrovic about the genesis of Scriptura, and what it was like to work on such an expansive project:

The Creators Project: What drew you to the project? Did you also write the story?

Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic: My work is primarily about language and the visual manifestation of communication. Up until this point I'd never before attempted to work in the film medium so as a creative, I saw this as a true challenge. I was initially approached by Protein and Channel 4 in the UK and asked if I'd be willing to concept, write and create a short-film documenting my calligraphic artwork. What began in earnest soon organically grew to become the largest single personal-project I've ever worked on.

Why did you decide to feature calligraphy so prominently?

Calligraphy is a core practice in my work. It's something that I've studied since I was a child and it's a practice that I find great solace and purpose in. Again, language, communication, symbology, and semiotics (as in the works of Saussure or Barthes) are all things I'm deeply interested in exploring. For me, calligraphy was always the most direct, visual manifestation of language. The hand shapes each stroke of ink on a page to reveal a form that directly signifies another concept or idea. It represents a bridge between mark-making and writing; the words and their meanings are as important as their shape and rhythm.

Channel 4 wanted to show me creating some calligraphic works in the film; that was really the only parameter I was given. From that starting point I referred to a film which I'd seen whilst living in Tokyo years ago. The film, Kaidan, is a 1965 screen adaptation of the works of folklorist and author Koziumi Yakumo (or Lafcadio Hearn). The image that had been seared into my memory was taken from the short story Mimi Nashi Hoichi (or Hoichi the Earless). In it a blind monk is covered in a buddhist prayer to protect him from visiting demons. The image of calligraphy covering the body in a very specific, ritualistic sort of way was something that I'd never seen before and something that I'd always wanted to reference.

Calligraphy became the driving narrative thread through which the story would be told. The movements of the performers were intended to be directly correlated to the gestures of the artist's brush. The writing on the performers itself relates back to the film's title and are latin Psalms of Repentance. The story itself is about the relationship between Artist and Artwork and the dualities that arise in that relational framework, as well as throughout our own lives.

How was the film made? 

I suppose how any film is made, through a lot of hard work and collaboration… But seriously, I was really blessed to have an amazing team come together at the outset of this production. I immediately reached out to my good friend and co-director on this film, Shane Annas, who brought a depth of expertise in filming and editing and is an amazing director in his own right. While casting the piece I was introduced to the famed actress Miho Nikaido who's best known for her starring role in the cult-classic, and for a time banned, Japanese film Tokyo Decadence. That film was written and directed by lauded novelist Ryu Murakami and the film was scored by Ryuichi Sakamoto. It was an absolute dream to meet her and to have that direct connection to cinematic history.

I showed her my humble little sketches and talked about my references for the piece and coincidentally we landed on the topic of BUTOH, the Japanese performance art founded by Kazuo Ohno over half a century ago. It turned out that Miho had been an apprentice in Ohno's theater company for 4 years before stumbling into her debut acting role. At the same time we'd approached an amazing Japanese dancer and Butoh performer, Maki Shinagawa, and had begun to incorporate the performance art into our film. All of these amazing, organic synergies happened all throughout the production process and really made me feel like this was all destined to be.

Once our performers were in place I went about finding collaborators for the score. I reached out to DIPLO as we've worked together for years (I designed his first album, Florida ) and he agreed to make original music for the film. We then also asked the avant-garde British producer ACTRESS to contribute music and lastly, a friend of mine Nick Hook who's produced for Azealia Banks put me in touch with a young duo he was working with, PLAITUM. I loved their music immediately and from there we had our 3 key tracks for the 3 acts of the film. To tie together the entire score we enlisted the noted sound-design team at LISTEN to compose original music that would bind everything together.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I was blessed to be introduced to the geniuses over at Fake Love which is an award-winning agency best known for their work at the intersection of Art and Technology. They've previously worked with The Creators Projects for Chris Milk and have done truly ground-breaking work with some of the world's largest brands… I'm fortunate to count them as friends and the founders Josh Horowitz and Layne Braunstein worked with me closely to bring the vision of Scriptura Vitae to life.

How does this differ from your other work?

Much of my career has been spent crafting visual solutions for Brands, Artists, Labels etc. I work extensively with Kanye West and his creative team. I've worked Art Directing and Designing the brand KENZO's Paris Fashion Week show. I've created collections for Nike and have worked on design projects for everyone one from Audemars Piguet to LVMH.

Scriptura Vitae is wholly different in its presentation, but similar in its execution to my other work. As I'd mentioned, I've never worked in film or video so that was a major learning process for me. But, I essentially hand-made every component of this project, down to the last unnoticeable detail. Every stitch of every kimono, every letter painted on the performers. Every piece of calligraphy used in the film, every element of typography and design used in the titling and credits, packaging and presentation… all of it was the product of intense work. Obviously, I worked with a hugely talented team to realize the final film but all of its constituent parts were things that I created by hand.

I'm a proponent of craft, and by that I mean a reverence for process. I think that's something that I strive to hold true to in everything I do.

As part of the narrative, Mestrovic also created eight bespoke, hand crafted kimonos on which the artist hand-painted icons of rich symbolism, many representing the Latin Psalm Prayers of Repentance. Spooky stuff ya'll!

For Scriptura Vitae, a new form of shooting calligraphy was used by Aerosyn-Lex to create "Living-Paintings," which in the film can be seen unfolding in real-time. These illustrations were actually created in studio by painting directly onto a specially designed light-table that allowed for illustrations to be filmed without exposing the act of creation. All filming was done with the RED Epic camera system. Incidentally this was also the same camera that was used by Ridley Scott on Prometheus.

Why did you choose Channel 4 to premiere the video?

Channel 4 has always been an amazing supporter and proponent of the arts, and for emerging artists. In particular their Random Acts platform has launched some truly great films over the past 2 years. I'm absolutely honored, thrilled and still a bit in disbelief that I'm amongst an amazing lineup which includes Damien Hirst, James Franco and many others.

I feel really blessed to have my directorial debut premier alongside these other great films.

What made you decide to bring Diplo into the project? How do you think his music contributed to the vision of the film?

I'm fortunate to have known Diplo for many years and worked with him on music and art projects back before even Hollertronix started, before his first album dropped. I knew he was capable of a sound totally different than what most people know him for. We both share a love for obscure Psych, Kraut and Prog Rock, Proto-Electro, weird sound library records, basically we're both vinyl-nerds. I asked if he could do something totally different than what he's producing at the moment and he said sure. The resulting music frames the introduction and first act of the film perfectly. It's very subtle and subdued but matches perfectly with the intent of what's portrayed on screen during that track.

How did you decide on the other collaborators?

It all happened very organically. I always say that I'm blessed with truly wonderful friends. I couldn't have made this project, nor have had the opportunity to share it with the world had it not been for my friends who more often than not, were also my collaborators. Everyone fortunately trusted me enough to lend their time, talent, blood, sweat and tears to make this project possible.

What is your next project?

I gotta say, I'm truly excited for the months to come. Well, in a way, we're just embarking on the next part of our journey with Scriptura. The film is the center-piece of a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary body of artwork. We've always envisioned this as having a Live Exhibition component and we've developed some really amazing new interactive technologies with Fake Love that tell the story, through calligraphy, in a totally immersive way. We're looking to develop that further now. We're doing screenings in London, New York and Tokyo and have some things planned for Basel as well.

I'm also currently working with Skrillex's label OWSLA, creative directing a new group which I'm really excited about (Phuture Doom) and working on everything from costuming, album art and packaging to video-direction. I'm also working with the massive electronic music group The Glitch Mob on launching their next studio album. I'm wrapping up some work with Lupe Fiasco… I'm also excited to be moving back into the Fashion and Product space with some new, upcoming collaborations. Perhaps most excitingly I'm looking forward to getting back to making a mess in the studio and putting ink to paper and paint to canvas and working on more large scale pieces.

Below, check out a few of the chiling GIFs Mestrovic created for the film's launch:

Scriptura Vitae  was commissioned by [Protein](https:// http://prote.in/tv) for Channel 4's Random Acts, and premieres tonight in the UK.

Above trailer courtesy of:

Director: Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic,

Co-director: Shane Annas

Post Production: FAKELOVE

Director of Photography: Peter Trilling

Original Music: Diplo / Mad Decent

Parallel World: ACTRESS/ Werkhaus ltd

Geisha by Plaitum

SCRIPTURA VITAE

@LauraFFeinstein