I have just finished taking part in the wonderful Almost Cinema festival in Ghent, Belgium. I exhibited the installations Piano Migrations and Dancing Cranes, the latter being a collaboration with the amazing Norwegian composer and vocalist Maja Ratkje. Both works were in the Snoepwinkel (and old Candy Store) next door to the main venue, Vooruit Arts Centre. It was a great space for the work. The front windows were blacked out with peep holes to see the cranes in order to entice people to enter. The back room has a very high ceiling and a fantastic structure of bars and pillars – perfect for hanging a piano amongst, the perspective of the pillars drawing the eye towards the piano.

Almost Cinema runs alongside the Ghent Film Festival, and showcases works that take an alternative approach to what cinema could be. This year’s exhibition was throughout the Vooruit Arts centre and featured Ant Hampton & Britt Hatzius, Julius Von Bismark, Tina Tonagel, Diane Landry, HC Gilje, Wim Janssen and Wouter Huis.  It was a great show… here are some pictures.
Continuization Loop by Wim Janssen – (and a view showing the mechanism) A live, moving image of ‘noise’ created by an amazing construction of reels that feed one continuous 35mm loop of film exposed as black or clear frames… stunning.

Chévalier de la Résignation Infinie by Diane Landry poetically alluding to the passing of time, planetary cycles, day and night;  and Effektgerät / Stollen Stollen Abgesang by Tina Tonagel, a series of carefully constructed mechanised devices on overhead projectors to generate beautiful and subtle audio visual compositions.

I didn’t take pictures of all the other works –  but take a moment to check them out as there was some amazing work. See the other artist’s work here and explore and read about the rest of the festival.