Labyrinths: The Films of Peter Burr

About

PLEASE NOTE THIS SCREENING IS AT BARBICAN CINEMA 2 AT BEECH ST

The deeply immersive films of Peter Burr conjure an extraordinary vision of a digitised future. Characters explore uncharted realms, vast architectural structures and post-apocalyptic environments hovering on the boundary between abstraction and figuration, ready to dissolve into pure pattern and rhythm at any point. 

Peter Burr is the Guest Artist at the Edge of Frame Weekend 2018. He has shown widely at festivals and galleries around the world. Working with animation across different forms including short films, gallery installations, performance and virtual reality, he is at the forefront of contemporary animation practice. His work has been presented across the world by institutions including Documenta 14, Athens; Le Centre Pompidou, Paris; and MoMA PS1, New York. Previously, he worked under the alias Hooliganship, and in 2006 founded the video label Cartune Xprez, through which he produced hundreds of live multimedia exhibitions and touring programs showcasing a multi-generational group of artists working with experimental animation. Peter will introduce the programme and take part in a Q&A following the screening. 

The Edge of Frame Weekend 2018 is supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Royal College of Art, and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Programme:

Alone with the Moon
Peter Burr
USA 2012 13’
Burr creates a slow, liminal illusion in black-and-white, switching perspectives and matrices and crescendo-ing in time with Christopher Doulgeris’ portentously pulsating soundtrack.

Special Effect
Peter Burr
USA 2014 22’
Channeling Tarkovsky’s Stalker, this film’s fractured and spiralling narrative is traversed through a hypnotising blend of live action and various digital animation styles.

Green | Red
Peter Burr
USA 2014 10’30
Burr conjures a shape-shifting world where the sidewalks are endless, the radio is playing electric, and the night sky is broken open by a cataclysm of shuddering stars.

The Mess
Peter Burr
USA 2016 14’
This film follows the perspective of a solitary woman who descends into an abandoned subterranean ‘arcology.’ She is tasked with cleaning up the mess that has spawned from this feral structure, becoming lost in the process.

Pattern Language
Peter Burr
USA 2017 10’30
Architect Christopher Alexander’s design theories are applied towards a generative video game labyrinth, resulting in this rhythmic animation made of rippling, skipping, and strobing arrays of light infused with programmatic digital pixelation.