Leeds Light Night Oct 2010 – Rob & Matt Vale’s Kaleidoscope

Light Night 2010 Photographs

Here is a selection of photographs from Leeds Light Night, October 2010.

show

Upcoming ‘Moving Body in the City’ Events

Artists Talk: Rachel Goodyear and Bernd Behr discuss their films.

17.15 – 18.30, 23 November 2010
42 New Briggate, Leeds
Free – for tickets, email Andy Abbott: zadanzig@yahoo.co.uk

Public Installation & Art Walk
17.00 – 21.00, 24 November 2010
The Hepworth, Wakefield
Free (for a map of the installation, look at the right picture above)

Public Installation & Art Walk
19.00 – 22.00, 18 February 2011
Scarborough
Free (part of Coastival festival)

The Moving Body in the City – a new way to be involved with London 2012
‘Moving Body in the City’, a new series of short films and a projected kaleidoscope by six contemporary artists specialising in audio visual artwork, will celebrate the post industrial landscape and communities of Yorkshire at a series of events beginning on 23 November. The work has been commissioned by arts organisation Lumen as part of imove, Yorkshire’s signature arts and culture programme for ensuring a legacy from The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Artists Bernd Behr, Rachel Goodyear, Emily Richardson, Emma Rushton & Derek Tyman and Rob & Matt Vale have used digital images, sound and animation to create films and installations that convey a sense of place, using locations inside and outdoors in Holmfirth, Leeds, Scarborough and Wakefield to reflect how the past, present and future communities of these areas move through their town or city.

Each short film examines historic or abandoned buildings in these Yorkshire towns and cities, assessing how the movement of communities into and through them has changed or influenced the spaces. The films will be shown at locations across Wakefield (24 November) as part of a city wide ‘art walk’ which starts at new gallery The Hepworth Wakefield, where visitors will be able to pick up a map of the route. The films will then continue to tour Yorkshire, with the final screening event in Scarborough (February 2011), where it will be part of Coastival Festival; they will also be available online and distributed on a limited edition DVD.

The Kaleidoscope will use images taken at each film location, collected together and projected onto the outside of a building in the town or city as part of the arranged ‘art walk’.

The Films

Inspired by the striking new gallery designed by David Chipperfield, The Hepworth Wakefield, and the River Calder on whose banks it sits, in London based artist Bernd Behr’s piece, ‘Contact and Concretion’, he examines the mineralogical history of the new building from its starting point as limestone from Hope Works Quarry to the finished building. ‘Contact and Concretion’ references a 1953 film about Barbara Hepworth – ‘Figures in a Landscape’ – which includes a sequence where the camera zooms out of the centre of one of Hepworth’s sculptures. Bernd has paid homage to this shot using a concrete maquette from early stages in the construction of The Hepworth Wakefield.

Rachel Goodyear (Manchester), whose intricate pencil drawings secured her a place on the shortlist for the 2009 Northern Art Prize, creates hand drawn stop-motion animation for her work ‘Kissing in Tunnels’ – inspired by the same titled film made by Holmfirth local legends the Bamforth brothers. The Bamforth’s came to prominence during the 1890s for the industrial mass production of magic lantern slides and, after 1904, for their expansion into the international market for postcards and then film making. Rachel’s film is also inspired by the Yorkshire town of Holmfirth and local events including the folk festival, which influenced her drawings that feature mischievous demons dancing an eternal jig and crows stabbing at a tree stump.

‘The Futurist’ by Emily Richardson (London) is inspired by the transition in cinema from 35mm film to digital projection. The piece is a single 360 degree animated shot which was filmed at the historic Futurist Cinema on Scarborough’s sea front. Opened as a cinema in 1927 the Futurist has undergone substantial changes, becoming a theatre for much of the second half of the 20th century before extensive refurbishments in 2002. Richardson uses the building’s colourful history and sounds gathered from past shows to create an animated film and soundtrack that pays homage to film and cinema. ‘The Fururist’ has been programmed as part of the Venice, London, Nottingham and Moscow film festivals.

Rushton & Tyman (Manchester) have recreated and distorted a scene from ‘Billy Liar’, the classic 1963 film by John Schlesinger, set in Leeds. In the piece, entitled ‘Liar’, the artists restage a fantasy scene at Leeds Town Hall weaving historic images of 1960s Leeds architecture with new shots of these same buildings under demolition.

Matt & Rob Vale have produced ‘Kaleidoscope’, a compilation of stills collected in Holmfirth, Leeds, Scarborough and Wakefield which will be projected onto buildings in each of the featured towns and cities. On 24 November from 5pm in Wakefield, the Kaleidoscope will display collections of constantly changing images, showing how people connect to the ground in each location, whether that is by shoe or skateboard, stiletto or scooter.

Jenny Harris, imove producer, commented: “Moving Body in the City examines how we use our surroundings, both physically as we move around and also historically as areas and buildings are shaped by the flow of people that inhabit them, the changes they make and things they leave behind. Hopefully by experiencing the films and the Kaleidoscope, people will be inspired to get involved with more cultural events in the run up to London 2012.”

imove is a new and imaginative celebration of human movement, bringing together the best creative talent from the region to produce a programme of events designed to inspire the public in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. imove is funded by Legacy Trust UK, Yorkshire Forward and Arts Council England.

Find us at www.imoveand.com

For further information, images or artist biographies please contact Anys Williams or Debbie Pett at Anita Morris Associates on 01943 603311 or email: anys@anitamorrisassociates.co.uk / Debbie@anitamorrisassociates.co.uk

Additional notes
Lumen is a not-for-profit arts organisation based in Leeds, specialising in artistic projects and events. Their artistic programme aims to nurture and exhibit video, sound, film and techology from established and emerging artists and producers. They focus on artistic work that experiments with elements of still & moving images, audio-visual performance and related sound art, aiming to change people’s perceptions of what they can achieve with limited funds and encourage experimentation with high production values.

www.lumen.org.uk

Moving Body in the City ||||| Leeds Light Night – 8th Oct 2010

The Moving Body in the City is a series of five new film and projection works inspired by the moving body in relation to public space. Commissioned by Lumen and imove, artists Rachel Goodyear, Emily Richardson, Tyman & Rushton, Bernd Behr and Rob and Matt Vale have used locations in Leeds, Wakefield, Holmfirth and Scarborough to examine how these towns and cities have been shaped by people moving through them.

You can read more about the artists’ films at the blog http://movingbodyinthecity.wordpress.com/

The works are connected via an artwalk through the city centre (there’ll be a printed map at each of the film locations for you to pick up) and you’re invited to create your own projections using Rob and Matt Vale’s giant kaleidoscope positioned on Leeds Civic Hall. 

The Moving Body in the City is part of imove, which celebrates and challenges the relationship between people and their moving bodies through a series of arts projects across Yorkshire during the run up to London 2012. imove is funded by Legacy Trust UK, Yorkshire Forward and Arts Council England. Find out more at

www.imoveand.com

You are warmly invited to join us for two discussion events relating to Lumen and imove’s recent commissions of five publicly-sited audio-visual installations the first of which is on Tues Oct 5th. See below for details.

The events are free of charge but due to limited space it is recommended you secure a place by emailing Andy Abbott zadanzig@yahoo.co.uk. Refreshments will be provided.

The talk on October 5th has been programmed to allow those interested in attending Pavilion’s multi-location screening on the same evening to attend both as they share similar concerns. http://www.pavilion.org.uk/pavilion.php?pid=4

http://www.movingbodyinthecity.wordpress.com/

http://www.lumen.org.uk

http://www.imoveand.com

http://www.artinunusualspaces.co.uk

———————– Moving Image and The Body in the City———————-

What is the relationship between the screen and the active body? Coinciding with Lumen and imove’s commissioning of five publicly-sited audio-visual installations, please join us for a discussion event around this theme in two parts. The talks will use the artists’ work as a starting point for a conversation around film, video and screen-based art and its potential to animate public space, engage audiences and prompt activity.

Part 1. With presentations by Rushton and Tyman, and Emily Richardson. October 5th 5:15pm – 6:30pm at 42 New Briggate Gallery, Leeds.

Part 2. With presentations by Rachel Goodyear and Bernd Behr. November 23rd 5:15pm – 6:30pm at 42 New Briggate Gallery, Leeds.

The first event (October 5th) will focus on themes of cultural narratives and historical traces that are unearthed through video installation. Artists Rushton and Tyman and Emily Richardson will discuss their recent work as part of the imove programme. Tina Richardson, of Leeds Psychogeography group, and Sue Ball, who has commissioned a number of public art works in the city, will be the evenings’ respondents to help reflect upon the manner in which arts physical intervention can alter perceptions of, and consequently help shape, urban space.

The second of the discussions (November 23rd) will develop these initial themes by bringing artists Rachel Goodyear and Bernd Behr to present their work and relay their experiences working on the imove commission. Artists film curator Will Rose will join as respondent. At this conversation the relationship between tactile, physical presence and the digital image will provide a base to collectively explore ideas about what we might consider ‘active engagement’ to be.

Both discussion events will take place at 42 New Briggate Gallery, New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NU and be facilitated by Andy Abbott and Jenny Harris

The new commissions will be screened at Leeds Corn Exchange, OK Comics and Leeds Civic Hall as part of Leeds Light Night on Friday 8th October and at locations around The Hepworth Wakefield on the 24th November

www.hepworthwakefield.org
For enquiries, please contact James Islip, Moving Body in the City Project Manager, james@lumen.org.uk

Emily Richardson

What were the starting points with your research and work?
I was working on an idea for a series of cinema films when I was approached to make this film. I was drawn to the Futurist cinema in Scarborough as it is a 2500 seat cinema with a rich history that is threatened with closure, a pre-digital relic that I felt needed to be recorded before it is potentially erased from memory. The idea for this series of films was to create a single 360 degree shot in each cinema where a 35mm feature film is being projected without an audience. Each film would be shot using only the light from the projection with long exposures on single frames abstracting the projection to light and colour, condensing the film to just a few minutes. The soundtrack for each public spaces under-pined the idea that by taking people out of the frame and leaving only the environment it gives a deeper insight into human nature as well as a keener awareness of that environment. Traces of human presence are visible in the architect, landscape and arrangement of objects left behind.
This film is a condensed experience of film viewing in a cinema where the sound becomes a cacophony of past projections and the aural experience is closer to that of the projectionist than the audience.

Describe the process in creating your work so far?
Shooting on single frames to create a seamless animated single shot lasting 4 minutes took a lot of testing so I spent time in my local cinema doing this before the final shoot which paid off but it still took 3 days to get the final shot for the film.
All the sound was recorded in the projection booth of the cinema at the time of shooting to get the most authentic direct sound I could to work with to put together the soundtrack.
This film relates strongly to ideas and concerns in my previous films. It comes out of an interest in the relationship between film and photography, the still and moving image and is similar to my other work in the use of light to animate and environment, to make a portrait of a place.

To what degree has your (physical) relationship with the site influenced in the project’s direction?
It was in interesting process, sitting in an empty cinema for 3 days attempting to create the shot that you see in the film. There is something magical about being alone in a 2500 seat cinema watching a film but also knowing that this particular cinema, like many others may not exist for much longer, it felt like an important way to mark the passing of this place, the end of an era of 35mm film projection.

How might you envisage the audience engaging with or experience the work?
I hope the audience will be able to see this work in the cinema where it was made, as well as other cinemas, where it will become a reflective experience, one where the audience is made very aware of where they are sitting and viewing the film, highlighting their physical relationship to it.

I am continuing the series while I am artist in residence at FACT, Liverpool over the summer.

Rob & Matt Vale Kaleidoscope build

[VIMEO 13995905]

Rob & Matt Vale

These photos from Rob and Matt Vale will form the basis of the images for kaleidoscope in Leeds

Rushton & Tyman

Bernd Behr (20/7/10)

Emily Richardson (20/7/10)

INTERVIEW WITH COLIN BAINBRIDGE, PROJECTIONIST, THE FUTURIST, SCARBOROUGH. JUNE 2010

When was the Futurist built and in what style?

The Futurist was built as a ‘Super’ silent cinema in 1921 making it within the first wave of large scale (over 2000 seats) purpose built silent cinemas in England in the early 1920s. The architecture of the auditorium is significant as its design ( Architect Frank Tugwell ) though simply executed is a mixture of theatrical and early cinematic styles – cinema buildings of this period where yet to find their own architectural identity, it predates art deco and the more thematic interiors of the late 1920s and 30s – creating in this instance a huge space with a great sense of openness (freedom) without a feeling of overwhelming emptiness. This was achieved by introducing graceful curves, ellipses and arcs taking the eye to and softening the more functional straight lines formed by walls and openings. The huge curving circle (balcony) was at the time of building in 1921 considered to be one of the widest single spans(without visible major support) in England and utilised the then very modern building concept of cantilevering the weight of the circle into the rear wall of theatre, and  sharing this weight with broad span side supports placed forward but outside the width of the auditorium.

Could you say a little about the era of cinema that the Futurist comes from?

The outbreak of the first world war caused much social upheaval so it was not until 1920 that the shadow cast by this event and the shortage of materials eased sufficiently for the country to once again begin construction of new works.

In the intervening years the number of people going to the cinema had increased with the result that by the early 1920s pre-war cinemas where starting to appear too small to cater for the increased demand. Average seating capacity of these early cinemas was around 400 - 600 seats, larger examples seating up to 1500 seats being the exception rather than the rule. The start of the 1920s brought with it a new feeling of optimism for the country which was reflected in the art of the time (barring in mind this was the period of Art Novo and before Art Deco) and its new architecture.

What is special about it and what have been it’s high points and low points during its history?

And is there one specific event or story / rumour that it would be remembered for?

It can claim a number of ‘firsts’ in Scarborough, being the first large (2000+seats) purpose built cinema in the town in 1921, first in the town to introduce ’Talking pictures’ in 1929, first to install Cinemascope in 1955 and later first in Scarborough to install and run 70mm wide screen film in 1968. It ran as a cinema until 1956 when British cinema attendances were on the wane (despite 3D and Cinemascope being introduced) due to the introduction of television nationally. The Futurists owner felt variety theatre was likely to be more profitable in a seaside resort (he already ran the smaller theatre next door) so made changes to the stage area for this purpose. The alterations proved successful in attracting summer season shows and audiences with one of these shows being the fledgling Black & White Minstrels show backed by Robert Luff and George Mitchell. Early in the 1960s the Futurist along with many other large cinema/theatres around England hosted ‘pop’ bands of the time, the Beatles played 2 shows there in 1964. In 1966 Robert Luff bought the theatre and made further improvements to the stage and dressing room areas along with other parts of the site for it to become the Northern home of the (by then very successful) Black & White Minstrels show, a residency it fulfilled for several years playing to approximately 200,000 people each season. During the ‘peak’ years of the British seaside holiday (1955-72) the Summer season shows staged at the Futurist contained the ‘who’s-who’ of English variety stars from stage and television. A newspaper report in August 1968 stated that 24,000 people had attended the summer season show during the previous 6 nights.

In order to attract custom to the venue out of season cinema was reintroduced with the added attraction of wide screen 70mm film and stereo sound in 1968.

The 1970s and early 80s were also the boom years for conferences and many large seaside theatres found a new source of revenue at what would otherwise be quieter times of the year. To appeal to this new market the Futurist was re-branded ” The finest conference centre in the North” with the ambition of attracting more conferences to the Scarborough area by providing an enlarged and comprehensive range of facilities.

Unfortunately the conference market proved somewhat fickle and with changing times and the preference for families to holiday abroad, the theatre changed ownership more than once during this period with the council eventually stepping in and buying it.

What does its future hold?

The future is very uncertain as it is owned by the council (though not run by the council) who don’t seem to share our sense of history for the building or provide sufficient freedom to operate it effectively - only 1year lease granted – and are looking to maximise revenue from the site (probably) by demolishing it and selling the land for re-development.

With vision the whole theatre (its interior is its raison detra) could be incorporated within a new multi-purpose facility offering - THE BEST OF THE OLD WITH THE BEST OF THE NEW!

Is there anything interesting about the place that you would like to add from your own experience of working there?

All old theatre/cinemas auditoriums that are still in their original condition are like time capsules. Contained in that capsule is not only the physical architecture but also a sort of spiritual something, an essence of the history of the place itself and the people that have entertained and been entertained within its walls, in our case for the last 89years. For those of us that are lucky enough to work in such places we know they are special and know what they are….they are irreplaceable.

How do you think independent cinemas are going to sustain themselves in the digital era?

The future for independent cinemas will depend very much on their ability to invest in the new technology, though I will counter this by saying as need arises. At the present time film distributors offer most new films on either the digital format or 35mm film, however film prints are labour intensive to produce so distributors are very keen to drive this cost down and the change to digital media will achieve this. What is really preventing a digital switch-over is the lack of funding to assist independent cinemas meet the cost of the new digital projectors combined with the uncertainty that any investment can be recouped in a reasonable timeframe – digital doesn’t necessarily mean extra business.  Multiplex venues on the other hand have the advantage of having access to large funding streams and the ability to spread the investment period and risk involved. On the surface it would seem a change to digital could be achieved overnight if a middle-man could be found who could purchase the digital projectors and hire them to the cinemas. The fact this hasn’t happened I suspect is because the figures don’t add up, put another way many independents only survive because the projection equipment is already bought and paid for, digital either by way of purchase or lease would increase a cinemas overheads and probably make many unprofitable to run.

As this problem is addressed independent cinemas will go through a period of change with sites that are able to adapt incorporating other revenue streams or perhaps co-siting with other attractions, or closing altogether.

Addendum:

English Heritage could help maintain the cultural heritage of the film medium by insisting that any cinemas that qualified for Listed status should have at least 1 operational 35mm projector installed in the projection room.