Peace Piece
April, 2026
Peace Piece is an experimental film that translates the auditory experience of Bill Evans’ eponymous composition into a visual language. Influenced by Debussy’s Romanticism, Evans brought these characteristics into jazz, creating a minimalist work whose melodic language evolves from simple diatonic melodies into complex, polytonal dissonance, all anchored by a repeated left-hand ostinato in a steady 4/4 time signature.
Viewing the left hand as a hearty breath and the right hand as a lingering dream, I filmed two tracks to simulate these high and low registers, overlapping them into a unified composition. For the bass register (left-hand chords), I filmed a ceiling chandelier. Acting as a stable anchor, I swung a flashlight in a steady pendulum motion for the entire 7-minute duration, allowing for natural, uncertain angles caused by my body. Evans’ agile right-hand treble delivers dreamlike improvisation across nine sections. I translated this using light intensity, multiple exposures for trills, and complex shadows for dissonant notes. Shifting the distance between the flashlight and dried flowers scales the shadows to mimic arpeggios. By filming static objects like dried flowers and a chandelier, I transform stillness into a fluid visual music where time becomes a stable, contemplative space.
