Vol.1

About

All screenings from 6pm onwards

Vol. 1 is a short film programme which will be presented at Lewisham Arthouse from 19 - 21 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 and 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 Hito Steyer'sl 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 jpeg. 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.

Vol.1 is curated by Claire Craig, Neil Jefferies, Carly McGoldrick, Jess OíFarrell, Robert Spragg and Nicola Celia Wright with the support of Lewisham Arthouse.

For further information and press images please email: vol.1curators@gmail.co.uk