In Sketch, a venue that combines a nightclub, Bar, restaurant, Gallery. The gallery although slightly sidelined still is an effective space, only showing films it has created a
soft, white couch filled arena with surround cinema. It is showing a
retrospective of Mary Ellen Bute. A little known artist she made short films,
fourteen are here and they document her pioneering use of moving image,
combining light and sound, with her experimental drawing and painting directly
onto the film. She was drawn into filmmaking by collaboration with the musician Joseph
Schillinger, who had developed an elaborate theory about musical structure,
which reduced all music to a series of mathematical formulae. Schillinger
wanted to make a film to prove that his synchronization system worked in
illustrating music with visual images, and Mary Ellen created the visuals.

In1939 Mary Ellen began to work in color, and used more conventional
animation for the main themes in the music, but still combining it with
“special effect” backgrounds–sometimes swirling liquids, clouds or
fireworks, other times light effects created with conventional stage lighting,
such as imploding or exploding circles made by rising in or out a spotlight. Set
to classical music by the likes of Bach, Saint-Saens or Shostakovich, and
filled with colorful forms, elegant design and sprightly, dance-like-rhythms,
Bute’s filmmaking is both meticulous and energetic. Her Kandinsky like films
are slightly darker in content, but you become mesmerised by the layering of
film and the colours that permeate the screen.