Neovoxer: noun - \¦nē(ˌ)ō+\ˈväk-sər\,
1: User of a new voice and/or new user of a timeless voice.
2: One who seeks or has discovered and/or activated the unique expression of their authentic superselves.
3: An esthetic quality or quality of spirit of unparalleled awesomeness. Commonly pertaining to unconditional
love as expressed through creative action.
The Neovoxer, photo: Jiri Dvorsky
NEOVOXER has been many different things to many different people.
An impressionistic mythology culled from dream imagery and supersensory archetypes, NEOVOXER is, on its surface, a non-dialogue experimental-narrative feature film designed to be presented with its original score and sound effects performed live.
On deeper inspection, NEOVOXER is much more than that.
Twilighter at Cosmograph, cinematography: Scott D’Angelo
 Ofadamadual & Violette, cinematography: Jiri Dvorsky |
Conceived and directed by Michael Pope as a collective creative action, the making and presentation of NEOVOXER focused the volunteer DIY efforts of over two hundred artists and artisans towards an ever-evolving cinematic ritual of creative process. This ritual, one committed to nontraditional, commercial-free exploration of collective imagination, returns the artistic process to its rightful place as mechanism for individual and communal transformation and determination.
The Funeral March, photo: Jennifer Hicks
 The Death of God, photo: David Franklin |
As film, concert, community, esthetic and approach, NEOVOXER expands beyond medium and genre entering wholly into the realm of artistic and life philosophy itself.
“We Create Therefore We Are” - Neovoxer
Evolution and Process
As a project of process, NEOVOXER presented each phase of its creation at multi-media events throughout its ongoing production. The first presentation of NEOVOXER; a 20-minute screening of unedited dailies with music and soundscape, was performed by Pope and collaborator/co-producer Troy Kidwell (Neovoxer, Fluttr Effect, the Voluptuaries) at the underground Boston venue Pan 9 in 1998.
Michael Pope at Pan 9 Boston, photo: Jeremy Traub
Between 1998 and 2004 NEOVOXER evolved and expanded, presenting in wholly unique iterations and edits, ranging in lengths from twenty minutes to three hours in duration. Often inviting audience participation into both its live shows and its film sets, NEOVOXER events incorporated a music ensemble of up to fifteen contributing musicians, as well as site-specific installations, tableau vivant and additional inter-active performance-art pieces to augment the NEOVOXER mythos and in so doing, activate the personal mythos and creative actions of the events participants.
Neovoxer: A Living Film Event, pictures courtesy of the Cloud Club Archive
 Czech Poster, International Film Finale Plzen |
NEOVOXER was acclaimed by the Boston Globe as “An unforgettable sensory experience. A must-see event" and has been referred to as "Surrealistic Lyricism"(Metalopolis), “Groundbreaking... Defying the boundaries of genre...” (South End News), and "Nothing less than cataclysmic" (The Dig). With NEOVOXER Pope was awarded a Tanne Award for Outstanding Achievement (2000) that recognizes artists with outstanding achievements in their field. Fellow recipients of the award include artist Sanford Bigger featured at the 2002 Whitney Biennale, and the Bessie and Brio award-winning dancer Arthur Avites.
In 2004 Pope traveled to the Czech Republic as the first American director to screen work by invitation at the International Film Finale Plzen, (2004 Plzen, CZ). There he worked with an ensemble of Czech musicians and collaborator/co-producer David Franklin on a series of events in Plzen and Prague.
The core Creative/Production team of Neovoxer was (left to right, below) Troy Kidwell, Anne Chaisson, Michael Pope, and David Franklin. The Film was produced by Anne Chaisson. The Living Film Events were produced by David Franklin.
Neovoxer co-creators, photo: Damian Kolodiy
No two screenings of NEOVOXER have ever been of the same edit and score of the film.
