One of the minor inconveniences of having Hurricane Helene drop kick Western North Carolina in the the next year, was my wife and I missing both [unique] showings of the Brian Eno generative documentary that was playing at the more eccentric of the local arts cinemas just a few days after the flooding wiped the theater from the map. We had bought tickets months in advance for the two days apart showings of the generative film that is a different experience on every day. Adding insult to injury, my town’s other arts cinema, which still stands, was nonetheless closed for weeks due to the water issues that plagued downtown Asheville, so we also missed the single showing of “Eno” that was scheduled there as well.

It all made way too much sense that the artist; who has been obsessed with generative systems music since the earliest days of his career would be the first subject of a film documentary whereby a cybernetic approach to film editing was now possible with today’s non-linear editing systems. Eno himself had bee using cybernetic decision making systems to shape music for years and in the 21st century, it was finally possible for him to create music system apps that generated a steady stream of “Brian Eno Music” without his constant input.

I bought his “Scape” app for the iPad in 2012, and to date, he and Colin Chilvers have released four apps designed to design an infinite and ever mutating stream of “enoesque” music. The artist’s own “Reflection” album was a handful of discreet musical takes edited into a format that was turned into records and CDs of the same name.

So now it’s done with a documentary that issues a new edit every day. Director Gary Hustwit and Brendan Dawes created unique generative software that creates scenes and transitions out of Hustwit’s hours of interviews with Eno as well as Eno’s treasure trove of unreleased footage and music.

Digital film distribution makes this possible in theaters, and that’s why we bought a ticket for each showing. Two days later it would be a different experience as scenes were rearranged and replaced. The film has been making theatrical rounds for many months now and will continue in the months ahead. And this month, a special worldwide streaming premiere has been scheduled for January 24th.

ENOTHON

The ENO24 streaming event is coming and for your $24.00 you get a wide variety of features. What are they?

• The ability to stream several different iterations of “Eno”
• The ability to stream “Nothing Can Ever Be The Same.” Gary Hustwit and Brendan Dawes generative 168 hour “prequel” using Eno’s archival footage and music, that acted as the testing ground for the techniques brought to bear on “Eno.”
• Filmmaker interviews
• Eno music DJ sets
• “Surprise Guests”
• and finally “other material” that will only be a part of this 24 hour Enothon

Buyers will get an email of the schedule a week prior to the showing. The “ticket” will be an email with the streaming instructions so that any internet connected device with a web browser can stream to your television set. Do they still call them that? All very non-physical, of course. I have already bought our ticket so I await the follow up with the details! The big day is next Friday and DJ’s hit that button!

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