Brief Studio History:

VISUAL ALCHEMY   was created in 1972 in Vancouver, Canada by Al Razutis to function as a   multi-media innovations studio for the production of art work in the various emerging medias of the time: experimental film, video art, and holography.  The two-building site of the studio (beneath the main Granville bridge into downtown Vancouver) was previously occupied by the Granville Grange (Roy Kiyooka's studio) then a film-editing company (Werner Aellen / Bill Nemtin). The second half was added after Glen Toppings (sculptures and paintings) passed away.

The VISUAL ALCHEMY studio was a departure from co-op artists facilities and featured a individual studio (Razutis) that expanded to involve multiple technologies and talents. Here a number of remarkable media innovations were created during the mid 70's. In addition to film production, video production, sound synthesizer works, an animation stand, editing rooms, the studio was notably the location of a custom designed and built film optical printer,  Canada's first analog video synthesizer   (constructed in association with Jim Armstrong, who created circuit modules), and the first holographic art studio   in Canada. (See also texts on History of holography at Visual Alchemy for details and personalities.)

A number of pioneering works in experimental / avant-garde film,   experimental video art  and holographic art  were created at the Vancouver Studio location from 1972 to 1977. Assisting Razutis (and creating independent works at the studio) were Catharine MacTavish (holography 1974-76), Gordon Kidd (film opticals / animation) and Rick Gibson (hologram processing). The holographic works went on national tour 1977, the first of its kind in Canada, with the solo travelling exhibition "VISUAL ALCHEMY", and the Vancouver studio closed in 1977 when Razutis went to Samoa to pursue prose-poetic writing.

In the 1980's, when Razutis was a full-time tenured professor Simon Fraser University, Canada, the activities associated with VISUAL ALCHEMY were largely situated at Simon Fraser University film-video facilities during research sememsters.  During this time period, a number of additional works were created in film, video and holography - notably Amerika   and   Visual Essays,  two multi-part award-winning films, and a series of interferometric holograms (produced in association with Michael Sowdon, Fringe Research, Toronto), and a number of multi-media hybrid holographic sculptures with dichromate holograms produced in association with Gary Cullen, Holocrafts, Canada.  In the 1980's,   Wavefront  magazine was born and published by Al Razutis and Bernd Simson. 

A second short-lived publication, OPSIS - Journal of Avant-Garde and Political Cinema, edited with Tony Reif and Michael-Eliot Hurst, was published during this time and selected editorials and articles are posted here.

Razutis' activities in the 80's, above and beyond the making of media arts, writing and publication, also included participation in the creation of film production and distribution co-ops in Vancouver (reminiscent of the Intermedia Film Co-op, of which he was a co-founder in the late 60's), and support for avant-garde efforts nationally in Canada. Of further distinction was Razutis' activities (in conjunction with the Peterborough, Ontario arts community) towards the dismantling of powers of the Ontario Censor Board in the case involving his film   Amerika,  and in particular the segment titled  A Message from our Sponsor. He also participated in actions of political  'street art' (graffiti) and published a number of manifestos.

In the 1990's, Razutis lived in Los Angeles - Hollywood, and the activities of VISUAL ALCHEMY included video documentation of holographic artists and art works under the title   West-Coast Artists in Light,   and various site-specific sculptural works conducted in his 'other home': Baja California.

In 1996, Al Razutis and VISUAL ALCHEMY re-located back to Canada, specifically Saturna Island, British Columbia, where a new phase of work was initiated:stereoscopic 3D video,  of both holographic and non-holographic subjects. This work is distributed as completed tapes. This stereoscopic 3D VIDEO ART has been exhibited in 1997 at the Louvre Museum and more recently at the Seoul Net and Film Festival - 2004 in Seoul Korea where a film-video-3Dvideo retrospective of Razutis' work was held in 2004. Further work in spatial representation was conducted in the new and developing area of multi-media   Virtual Reality on the Net,   utlizing VRML 2.0 programming language.

In 2004, a new body of works in stereospic 3D film, interactive game and film and holographics was undertaken by Razutis; these projects are still incomplete and in development pending financing and exhibition venues.

Currently, in 2010, Razutis is working in speech-interactive avatar projects and continuing his work in stereoscopic 3D media and holographic art, along with various works in interactive media.

Visit the Exhibition - Information Page for updates on past, current and future exhibitions of this work.

Archive: films and videos no longer in distribution

For additional histories/information visit:

Al Razutis RESUMÉ SUMMARY

CURRENT PROJECT, EXHIBITIONS, CONTACT

HOLOGRAPHY AT VISUAL ALCHEMY

EXPERIMENTAL AND AVANT-GARDE FILMS

REFLECTIONS ON WAVEFRONT MAGAZINE

CONTACT:

AL RAZUTIS - VISUAL ALCHEMY Snail mail to: P.O. Box 106 Saturna Island, BC  Canada V0N 2Y0   E-Mail: alrazutis@yahoo.com