'Visible Shape': Philip Glass, Lou Reed At Occupy Lincoln Center Captured In Artsy Short Film (VIDEO)

Philip Glass and Lou Reed occupied Lincoln Center last week, after a performance of Glass' opera, "Satyagraha," at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. At the time, quality footage was scarce, but today Open Culture pointed out a new video that artfully gathers scenes from the evening.

The black-and-white short film, "Visible Shape," by Jean Thevenin, is clearly meant to stir populist sentiment for the movement, and it's quite effective. Glass' music -- "Protest" from "Satyagraha" (as performed by the New York City Opera Orchestra) -- plays in the background, as the protesters being their chant: "When I saw you, I saw love." The camera focuses in on faces, lit up by the words Reed and Glass share with the intimate crowd.

"The police are our army," Reed says quietly, as the crowd echoes him. "I want to be friends with them."

Glass takes a more poetic tack, reciting the closing lines of "Satyagraha." Glass' opera, which focuses on Gandhi's non-violent protest in South Africa, has a timely message for the movement, one he laid out in a blog for The Huffington Post. These closing lines are where "Visible Shape" gets its name from:

"When righteousness withers away, and evil rules the land, we come into being, age after age, and take visible shape, and move, a man among men, for the protection of good, thrusting back evil, and setting virtue on her seat again."

Watch "Visible Shape":

Visible Shape (Philip Glass & Lou Reed occupying Lincoln Center) from jaune! on Vimeo.

 

Comments

[realitytrumpsbull]

11:53 PM on 12/13/2011

Sounds pretty pithy, but I think people were pretty pithed off about the pepperspray. That's not peppermint, that's not Santa, that's not a candy cane, and that's not a sleigh, either. Solving grinding food-type problems is going to take more than a visit from the art world illuminati. Maybe a retired drill sergeant that remembers how to establish bivouac, and a civic leader that remembers how to file a petition for a land use permit? There's people in need who'll likely freeze to death this winter, unless the public and The Government start acting on their behalf. December's upon us. These are Americans, presumably. What will become of them in January, other than casualties of the cold?

[christianryan]

05:56 PM on 12/13/2011

This is absolutely beautiful. I ran into Philip outside the Met after seeing Satyagraha last month. He's a wonderful man.

[Bluesky555]

02:50 PM on 12/13/2011

Sometimes, times like these.... I still have hope.

[Alan Lunn]

02:18 PM on 12/13/2011

"The police are our army. We want to be friends." -- Lou Reed The police still belong to us and haven't been "privatized" yet. Their purpose is to serve the community. Occupy is the community.

[caryberry]

04:28 AM on 12/12/2011

Take a walk on the wild side.

Lou Reed

[Steve Schindler]

01:06 PM on 12/11/2011

Very proud to say I've been a Glass fan since 1984!

[artist-53]

11:12 AM on 12/11/2011

Beautiful!!!!

[mose joseph workman]

08:27 PM on 12/10/2011

Philip Glass' latest musical endeavor, "Geese Farts on a Muddy Day," will premiere at a special concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. The magnum opus consists of four hours of three out-of-tune oboes in a fight to the finish. Proceeds benefit the Robert Thurman Home for Homeless Tibetan Girls.

[Steve Schindler]

01:05 PM on 12/11/2011

And it would still sound better than anything you like!

[Martha Fair]

02:31 PM on 12/12/2011

Newt "The Grinch" Gingrich latest musical endeavor, "Far Man Farts on a Nartion," will premiere at a special concert at a strip club on 42nd street. The magnum opus consists of eight hours of delusions of grandeur from a Megalomaniac Pompous Arrogant A*s reading from the bible about the dangers of homosexuality. Proceeds benefit the Citizen's United foundation and the Koch Brothers center for the deletion of reasoning skills.

[chefmudshark]

06:57 PM on 12/10/2011

That was beautiful.

[Prisilly]

11:00 AM on 12/10/2011

"When righteousness withers away, and evil rules the land,
we come into being, age after age, and take visible shape,
and move, a man among men, for the protection of good,
thrusting back evil, and setting virtue on her seat again."

The beauty of Glass and the living moments of the backdrop
of OWS will live on, I hope, just as there were those musical
moments that ushered in the sixties, "Hair", as just one example.

Thanks to both Philip Glass and Lou Reed.

[DarkHorses]

09:15 PM on 12/09/2011

Occupy needs more moments on this level.
Bravo Phillip Glass and Lou Reed.

[Prisilly]

10:57 AM on 12/10/2011

Oh, so definitely. Fanned/faved.

[emilie wow]

07:39 PM on 12/09/2011

Lou Reed is my favourite musician, and knowing he supports the 99% is the cherry on top. :D

[Prisilly]

11:00 AM on 12/10/2011

Truly a wonderful form of support--to all of us who align with OWS. F/F

[Tim Batty]

07:13 PM on 12/09/2011

amazing and lovely sentiment, how more so too prove an idea may not be killed.

[Hellz Angel]

06:46 PM on 12/09/2011

Lou Reed and Philip Glass are both amazing musicians. I'd love to see a Phillip Glass opera. Did Lou Reed actually perform in Satyagraha? Kudos to them both for supporting the 99%.

[Prisilly]

11:01 AM on 12/10/2011

And thanks to you for acknowledging them.