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THROBBING GRISTLE 05/29/81
1981/2008 (7:11)
film/video: Michael Sumner
music: “Vision and Voice,” Throbbing Gristle

This was the last live concert of Throbbing Gristle in the 20th century. Kezar Pavillion, San Francisco, May 29, 1981.

The film was created under extremely low light conditions. My Eumig 830 XL Super-8 camera was used that has an unusual feature — the “LT” (Long Time) setting. That is, when the camera is turned on, the shutter opens . . . then closes only after sufficient time for the proper exposure of one frame has elapsed. A new automatic pulse then triggers another exposure and so forth until the take is completed. The exposure times for individual frames range from 1/12 second to one minute per frame. The accumulated images are shown here at three per second.

The soundtrack recording is from the same concert. “Vision and Voice,” from Mission of Dead Souls, The Last Live Performance of TG, an audio CD, is used here without permission from Mute Records, Ltd. (p) 1980/81 Industrial/Fetish Records © 1991 Mute Records, Ltd.