The Disintegration Loops (2021/US)

45min, Director: David Wexler, With: William Basinski

David Wexler's film „The Disintegration Loops“ (2021) recapitulates the genesis of Australian musician William Basinski's ambient masterpiece of the same name. In the 1980s, Basinski recorded a series of tape loops that he would digitize two decades later. As he ran the loops, he noticed them slowly decomposing. Like a fading memory, we listen to the decay process on "The Disintegration Loops." Basinski states that he finalized the project on the day of the 9/11 attacks. Wexler finds images of this, most of which were taken during the lockdown. They are shots of a deserted New York, coupled with zoom-in interviews. The result is an impressive essay on a global catastrophe and one of the major works of ambient music.

This project is presented in the framework of We Are Europe in collaboration with Todays Art Festival.