ExMTL: Experimental Cinema from Montreal #2
ExMTL Experimental Cinema from Montreal #2
curated by Fabrizio Gilardino
Bridge Café and Art Space February 23, 2017
Cover charge: 200 baht (including welcome drink)
movies by Charlotte Clermont, Charles-André Coderre, Philippe Léonard, Sonya Stefan, Guillaume Vallée
Charlotte Clermont (Tokichiro) Non-Romantic Repetitiveness : 2016 : 3min05 As Close as Possible/As Far as Possible : 2016 : 6min59 Parking Lot Attendant : 2016 : 4min12
Charles-André Coderre 45 : 2013 : 3min20 H2T : 2014 : 5min38
Philippe Léonard Perceptual Subjectivity : 2009 : 6min00
Sonya Stefan Mystic Unicorn Earth Girl : 2015 : 4min31
Sonya Stefan & Guillaume Vallée Ronde de jambe : 2014 : 3min24
Guillaume Vallée Le Bulbe tragique : 2016 : 6min00 Différentes apparitions du spectre archéologique : 2010 : 3min00
++++++
Originally shot frame by frame and edited in a Super-8 camera, “45” is a psychedelic ode to the Montreal bus line 45, a bus ride from the South of the town all the way to the North. The film soundtrack is composed with the optical sound of 16mm film archives found in a Montreal garbage container.
Shot on several types of film (16 mm and Super 8 format), ranging from handmade film emulsion to expired films, “H2T” takes place in the mighty Hotel2Tango Montreal recording studio. The film is a chemical composition where light meets the effervescence and creativity of the band Land of Kush (Constellation Records) during the making of their latest album, “The Big Mango” (2013). Filming of the recording session during rehearsals and breaks, the picture is just as ephemeral as the musicians’ movements. “H2T” reflects on the performative aspect specific to experimental film and musical performance.
Charles-André Coderre lives and works in Montreal. After graduating from Université de Montréal’s cinema programme, he joined the experimental cinema collective Double Négatif and started to collaborate with 24images magazine. Coderre is a memebr of the audio-visual project Jerusalem In My Heart (Constellation Records), along with Radwan Ghazi Moumneh. He recently finished his first feature-lenght movie, “Déserts”, which he co-directed with Yann-Manuel Hernandez.
++++++
Ideas take shape in a kind of cerebral magma where the referents are assigned to parcels of experience from which intelligible elements are formed. “Perceptual Subjectivity” is an essay on the structural formation of thoughts.
Philippe Leonard lives and works in Montreal. His artistic practice focuses on still and moving images, through film, photography, performance and installations. His theoretical and aesthetic reflections focus on the complex temporality of still and moving images, the spectral dimension of physical spaces, and expanded documentary practices. Distributed by Light Cone and CFMDC, his work has been showcased in notable international contexts, such as the 16th WRO Media Biennale (Poland), Rotterdam International Film Festival (Netherlands), Anthology Film Archive (New York), Galerie Michel Journiac (Paris), Cineteca di Bologna (Italy), Festival du nouveau cinéma (Montreal), EXiS Experimental Film and Video Festival (Seoul), European Media Arts Festival (Germany), O 'Gallery (Milan), Museo Nitsch (Naples), Struts Gallery (New Brunswick), Annecy International Animated Film Festival (France). As a cinematographer, he is involved in artistic, documentary and commercial audiovisual projects, using a broad range of cameras and formats: Super 8, 16mm, 35mm, HD, etc. Philippe Leonard emphasizes a mastery of both analog and digital techniques to create moving images. He completed a Bachelor's degree in Film Production from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and a Master of Fine Arts at Concordia University with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In 2013, he was awarded a residency at the MIT Media Lab to study under the mentorship of the late Harun Farocki. He is a member of the Montreal collective of experimental cinema Double Négatif and Millenium FIlm Workshop in New York City.
++++++
“Ronde de jambe” is fractal acid luxuriant summer hypnosis kaleidoscopical glasses.
Geared towards the recuperation of mistakes and imperfections created by broken and discarded media, “Mystic Unicorn Earth Girl” is a reorganization of visual glitchery starring pop singer Pink, “The Last Unicorn” (1982) and the changeover cue mark used in motion picture film prints. The work has a flicker film aesthetic with its incessant desire to pack images within a short period of time supported by mystical music.
Sonya Stefan is a media artist who creates interdisciplinary work using real-time electronic glitchery, High8 video cameras and 16mm film. She is interested in deterioration using damaged materials of all kinds, from broken video mixers, disintegrated found footage film to glitched television screens and transforms these materials into contemporary new media works. She is co-founder of groop*index, a Montreal-based visual arts collective that explores expanded cinema and as well as co-curator of Ibrida*Pluri, an Eastern Bloc co-production that pairs dance, visual and sound artists together under the same platform. She has performed her work at Musee d’art contemporain de Montreal within the electronic music festival Mutek (Montreal) and has screened at Festival Oodaaq (France), Bucharest International Dance Film Festival (Romania), Musee de beaux-arts de Rennes (France) and many other festivals across Europe and Canada. For over twenty years, Sonya has also been a professional contemporary dancer working with various artists such as Dana Gingras, Jean-Pierre Perreault, Peter Trosztmer, Montreal Danse and many others, continuing to combine her media works with her dance practice. She is presently in-creation for the National Gallery of Iceland, fusing 16mm film and a pixel-sorting disintegration method as well as completing Schmiede 16, an Austrian interdisciplinary residency in September.
++++++
By using techniques such as direct manipulation and optical printing, “Différentes apparitions du spectre archéologique” was metamorphosed from found footage originally existing as a documentary film on Ancient Greece to its existing form. This short pieces is the result of an independent study. My approach was to subject the original film to constant experimentation as would an archeologist, peeling and re-layering scenes by means of collage, referencing the original images under multiple layers of psychedelic imagery. (G.V.)
Ephemeral traces of nothingness. Rotoscoping farmers, crumbling churches, dying memories as hand-painted layers, decay & collage on film emulsion as incidental traces of nothingness. “Le Bulbe tragique” is aware of its own mechanisms.
A graduated from Montreal’s Concordia University with a Major in Film Animation and MFA in Studio Arts—Film Production option, Guillaume Vallée is interested in radical forms of moving images in analogue forms as a way of considering the direct interaction between different mediums. His work is an exploration of materiality within the creative process. In attempts of creating a more complex relationship with his subject matter, Vallée makes use of cross-medium forms that range from camera-less techniques to optical effects, glitch, video feedback, usually with found-footage, often resulting in surreal and chaotic imagery. Vallée is exploring the possibilites of magnetic video tape and creates hybrid video and performative work based on the materiality of these analogue supports. Guillaume Vallée regularly collaborate with musicians from the Montreal's subcultural art scene for audiovisual performances and "vidéomusiques." His performative work has been shown in various festivals in Montreal (including Mutek) and France. His experimental films and videos, distributed by Vidéographe, has been screened internationally. As a member of Montreal's artists collective groop*index, he's actively involved in events organization that bring forward the idea of hybridity, acting as performer, installation artist and experimental film & video director.
++++++