The Light Surgeons, a United Kingdom production company that focuses on live cinema performances, was founded by Christopher Thomas Allen and other artists in 1995. Their screening of “SuperEverything*” at the Asia Society Texas Center on Friday was the U.S. premiere. | David A. Brown/Dabfoto Creative
In a partnership with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, the Asia Society Texas Center hosted “SuperEverything*,” a film that uses live music and explosive lighting to highlight problems with modern Malaysia and the world.
“SuperEverything*” was created by The Light Surgeons — a group of British multimedia artists — and Ng Chor Guan, a Malaysian musician who provides the live music and sound effects.
“There is a chemical reaction when you play with different artists, different venues; it gives you a different inspiration,” Guan said. “It’s like a chemical reaction when it goes together today; tomorrow it might be a different feeling. I think that’s the beauty of live music.”
The film was fast-paced and multi-layered, with colors flashing above the heads of interviewees and glimpses of Malaysian life.
Malaysians of different ages, genders, religions and backgrounds discussed important issues familiar to Western audiences: consumerism, deforestation and the dangers of an isolated society in a world seemingly controlled by the Internet.
“At first, I was a little concerned that I was going to be overwhelmed with so much going on, and I was kind of amazed at how it still contained a narrative.” said patron Joui Romano. “You can follow a story going on while you’re still taking in the images and the music so you’re kind of hit in all sense, but in a balanced way where it all falls into place.”
“(The film) was very interesting because it’s a way of experimenting with perception and how we look at space and things moving within that space,” said first-year new media graduate student Evan Lee. “It’s another way of how you communicate an idea to an audience.”
According to the official website, “SuperEverything*” was part of the 2012 Houston Cinema Arts Festival, an annual event that was held Nov. 7 to Sunday showcasing films by and about artists.
It was hosted at the Asia Society Texas Center, an organization that — despite having existed since the 1970s — just opened the doors to its first permanent establishment in April 2011.
“We wanted to do more to actually engage the community and share what is a very important part of the world right now,” said director of communications Patsy Brown.
“We decided to raise the money to actually give us a space where we could share more, not only in terms of a small lecture space, but for performing arts, visual arts, business and policy-type topics as well as education. It’s a place that covers a lot as far as different areas of our mission.”
