Minimal Animal

Mikro Orchestra

10 September 2005

Screenplay, camera and directed: Cyprian Lewandowski Starring: unknown actors

The Polish ensemble Mikro Orchestra, previously known as Gameboyzz Orchestra Project, is one of the early evangelists of chiptunes music. They usually perform live, their static concentration on the Game Boy screen making a sharp contrast with the spinning gigs they are able to produce. The originality of their video clips consists in the fact that, while most of the musicians of the scene keep a strong reference to the lo-res aesthetics of 8-Bit videogames, sometimes generating abstract fl uxes of bitmaps using circuit bending or custom software; Mikro Orchestra – who contributed to this genre as well, for example with the video Mastahlorez – usually prefer to comment their music with home-made, simple videos where the human body takes the foreground. Polish Tank, Autofire and Minimal Animal are all based on DIY aesthetics, close-ups of the body, a fast editing and a surreal atmosphere. The best example is probably Minimal Animal, where the eyes and mouth painted on a girl’s toes and fi nger-nails are enough to weave a bizarre tale of love and perdition.