Spheres Dance to the Music of Bach, Performed by Glenn Gould: An Animation from 1969

From Norman McLaren and René Jodoin comes a 1969 short animation called “Spheres.” Here, you can watch “spheres of translucent pearl float weightlessly in the unlimited panorama of the sky, grouping, regrouping or colliding like the stylized burst of some atomic chain reaction.” All the while, “the dance is set to the musical cadences of Bach, played by pianist Glenn Gould.” A perfect combination.

This film participates in a long tradition of animations exploring geometry, some of which you can find in the Relateds right below.

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Related Content:

The First Avant Garde Animation: Watch Walter Ruttmann’s Lichtspiel Opus 1 (1921)

Chuck Jones’ The Dot and the Line Celebrates Geometry & Hard Work: An Oscar-Winning Animation (1965)

Journey to the Center of a Triangle: Watch the 1977 Digital Animation That Demystifies Geometry

Watch “Geometry of Circles,” the Abstract Sesame Street Animation Scored by Philip Glass (1979)

 

 


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Open Culture was founded by Dan Colman.