Product Details

• Actors: Brian Eno
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Hannibal
• DVD Release Date: December 4, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000WPNKI2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,740 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

77 MILLION PAINTINGS BY BRIAN ENO 2ND - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous art, wonderful concept, flawed as software, December 13, 2007

By 

D. WISELY "ChiffFipple" (DaleForce One) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brian Eno: 77 Million Paintings by Brian Eno (DVD)

This is the 2nd edition of Brian Eno's art software project. A large set of handmade (not digitally-created) images gradually appear, overlap, and crossfade, creating a endless nonrepeating stream of "paintings." All accompanied by "generative music" by Eno. In keeping with Eno's concept of "ambient" art, we can watch and listen closely or, we can go about our business, noticing the work at various times and with varying levels of attention. Loaded up and run on a PC or a MAC, it's a lovely thing which absolutely delivers on its promises. It's a fully successful art experience, delivered via computer software. There's also an interesting bonus DVD featuring a substantial video interview with Eno and a long sampling of the software's output. The 2nd edition features greatly enhanced packaging in the form of a hardcover book.

As art it's great. The music is solid Eno ambient. As software, it's more than a little frustrating. Once loaded and run, it goes into full screen mode and the user can only adjust the speed at which the art changes (very slowly through extremely slowly). Apart from that, there's no interactive element whatever. Worse, it won't run in a window or in the background. So, you have to surrender your computer to the art show. This product would be SO much improved if it were possible to:

1. Run it in Window, so you could use the computer while it's running.
2. Press a button to clear and refresh the display.
3. Even dreamier, if it could run so that the visual art could be the desktop background.

But, I don't want to leave on a negative note. What this software provides is so lovely and interesting, if I had sufficient funds, I'd buy a computer with a nice-sized flat screen monitor and run the thing constantly in my home and I'd put another one in my office.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff, January 5, 2008

By 

Thomas J. Park "mystified musician" (Saint Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Brian Eno: 77 Million Paintings by Brian Eno (DVD)

This, the second edition of Eno's "77 Million Paintings", came in the mail today, and I have either been watching the piece or thinking about it all day.
At first, there was a little disappointment, as one of my PCs, which does not have a dvd drive, would not accept the installation disc. A little worried, I moved the disc to my main computer, and it installed perfectly.
By then I was feeling kind of upset, so I think my first couple of viewing sessions were not as interesting. Basically, I was all wound up, and quick to dismiss the work as a series of images, and that is all.
By the evening, I had a strange feeling that I wanted to watch the piece again-- and I was blown away. The images included worked very well for me, the transitions between them were hypnotic, and the music was very beautiful.
Overall, I am recommending this to people who have the right system. In the right frame of mind, it is absolutely great!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for a Party, November 23, 2008

By 

S. Kalil (New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Brian Eno: 77 Million Paintings by Brian Eno (DVD)

We recently had a party of 20 people and before they arrived I loaded 77 Million Paintings on my windows laptop, outputting the VGA video on my 50" plasma (I fiddled with the laptop video output settings a bit to optimize image quality). I turned down the ambient music track (we were listening to something more upbeat), and set the image change rate to the fastest setting.

Really amazing stuff. You'd glance at the image...be distracted (hey, a party was going on) and the next time you looked it was completely different. The amazing thing was you were sure it was changing, but if you stared at it, it didn't change at all. Very subtle and a bit mysterious.

The plasma did a great job displaying the VGA video output...but my iMac shows a better image. I was a little worried about burning the plasma, but saw no permanent damage after about 6 hours of continuous use.

Like Eno said of the project concept...changing the idea of the TV from us being stationary watching moving images on the TV...to the TV being stationary with us moving around. So true in this case.

My only criticism is one of convenience: that I'd wish 77 Million Programs would run without a computer...like pop it into a blu-rau player and you get HD video and 7.1 surround audio. I'm not sure if this is even possible given the demand on a computing power. I don't think it's worth changing the way 77 Million Paintings performs for this convenience factor, though.

A very interesting project and worth playing with in different situations. Next experiment: use while reading with the fireplace crackling.