Screen/Society--"Material Desire and Experimental Film" (Curated by Kim Knowles)--Program 2: "Inside the Machine"

Short Films Program:
"Material Desire and Experimental Film" -- Program 2: "Inside the Machine"
(Curated by Kim Knowles)

Material engagement has always been at the forefront of experimental film practice, from Man Ray's rayograms to Stan Brakhage's hand-painted works. Interrogating the celluloid surface opened up new forms of representation that departed from conventional figurative imagery and allowed a more sensuous visual experience to emerge. As Brakhage stated, 'Imagine an eye unruled by manmade laws of perspective.' In our contemporary digitally-dominated world, the physical material of photochemical film takes on a renewed significance, enjoying a renaissance of sorts now that it is freed almost entirely from its association with commercial filmmaking. This specially-curated series of film programmes provides an insight into how material desire manifests in the working methods of a range of contemporary filmmakers and provides historical parallels to contextualise current techniques.

Kim Knowles is an academic and curator based in Bristol, UK. She teaches film studies at Aberystwyth University and has programmed the 'Black Box' experimental strand of the Edinburgh International Film Festival since 2008.

Films to be Screened: "Dresden Dynamo" / "Abject Noise" / "Barge Dirge" / "Film Stenopeico" / "Under the Shadow of Marcus Mountain" / "Orange Trill" / "At the Academy" / "Dream Enclosure"