VOL.1

          Vol. 1 is a short film programme which will be presented at Lewisham Art House from the 19th – 21st May 2011. Screenings of innovative films and moving image works by internationally acclaimed artists will be shown alongside emerging filmmakers, bringing their works together within a range of lively, critical discourses. Each evening will interrogate a perceived idea or investigation which is current to contemporary film practices.
           Engaging with a festival atmosphere each evening of Vol.1 will be distinguished by an individual theme: The Poor Image, Speculative Documentaries & Mapping of the Self. Each night a core video work will be introduced by a series of complimentary short films.
         The Poor Image – Taking its title from the Hito Steyerl essay “In Defence of the Poor Image” this screening will investigate Steyerl’s “copy in motion”. With the abundance and influx of copied, recycled and overused images, the poor image is a reflection of the virally distributed j-peg. Pixelated, pirated and problematic, the poor image collapses distances in its instant circulation. As easily found in the gallery, on a laptop or bootleg, ripped off DVD, the works presented are both symptomatic and exploratory of this state of play.
         Speculative Documentary – With an increasing look to the past for historical imagings of utopian futurity Speculative Documentary will interrogate the breakdown of narratives and their potentialities to emphasise traditions of storytelling. Though borrowing from the tropes of documentary filmmaking, works do not offer exhaustive illustrations or authority but anecdotal renderings. Playful and divergent narratives are injected to distort meanings.
         Mapping of the Self – Moving beyond representational spatiality Mapping of the Self interrogates the social, physical and economical spaces which we inhabit. The works presented focus on strategies for exploring and occupying their given landscapes through filmic conventions. Drawing and measuring the constructs which define spaces and environments the works bring attention to our movements and interactions within them.

Curators: Neil Jefferies, Claire Craig, Nicola Wright, Jessica O’Farrell, Robert Spragg & Carely McCormack

Artists: Duncan Campbell, Anna Luca, Pilvi Takala, Matt White, Stina Wirfelt, Oliver Laric, George Barber, Eric Siu, Nina Wakeford, Hanna Perry & Lola Wilson, Shaun Gladwell, Ben Rivers, Marine Hugonnier, Charlesworth, Lewandowski & Mann

See exhibition Publication