In 1999 Solomons made Punctum Contra Punctum, a programmatic work consisting of a dominant soundtrack – Bach’s thirty Goldberg Variations, superimposed on a single track – while the visuals are equally superimposed sequences of hard pornographic movies. The Glenn Gould version of the Variations – used by Solomons for this work – is notorious for its extreme tempo variations, ranging from a fast allegretto to the slowest largissimo, creating an unusual length range in the different variations. True to the fugue method, as one musical variation ends, its corresponding visual sequence ends as well. Thus, the work that starts as a cacophony of sound and abstract, fluid images gradually cleans up as we begin to identify the piano melodies and the suggestive, and later explicit, footage.
Bach’s Goldberg Variations are widely deemed the epitome of Baroque musical composition. In this context, we find in the porn films, the same Baroque sensuality and exuberance, extreme and faked expressivity; even the "postures" in the films are taken from the Baroque lexicon. (Sergio Edelsztein)
Catalogue No. 468
File: S
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