Inspired by the works of John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Stan Brakhage & The Tragically Hip, 161! is a visual poem that explores human perception.

This six-minute piece plays continuously. Following the opening sequence that begins with Sarah Harmer reciting Pablo Neruda’s ‘Ode to Age’, the remaining 161 scenes are randomly rearranged by a computer program each time the film is played. The mathematical expression for the total number of combinations in which the scenes can be rearranged is 161! (161x 160 x 159 x … x 3 x 2 x 1).

There are 7.59 x 10²⁸⁶ versions of the film. That number is larger than all the atoms in the observable universe.

Max Montalvo 2013