We presented the AURORA 09 Tour at Plymouth Arts Centre which includes Current Shot 01 by Philippe Gerlach & Stefan Kushima (still above) and Masking for Serene Velocity - Heat Shot 3 - two incredible films. Programme below:

AURORA Tour 09

A selection of the best new artists' work in the moving image from across the world, this programme of ten short films represents a wide cross-section of current artistic practice—from rigorous formal experiments to lyrical, poetic work; hand-processed, textural 16mm films alongside maverick digital adventures.

The programme comprises work taken from the competition selection for the most recent edition of AURORA, an annual festival based in Norwich which explores the potential of the moving image via film programmes, installation work, performance and more. It is also available to buy on DVD from the AURORA website or selected retailers—see overleaf for more details.

To find out more about AURORA, go to www.aurora.org.uk

Untitled (Objects 3)
Sophie Michael UK 2008 3’03
A filmic and sculptural enquiry into the depth and slippage between a two-dimensional field and its actual location in three-dimensional space.

August
Vanessa O’Neill USA 2007 4’30
Impressions and presences evoked by hand-worked glimpses; lit moments.

Tape Film
Chris Kennedy USA/Canada 2007 5’
Made as an experiment in hand-processing, Tape Film cycles through five different film stocks and a variety of processing methods. The result creates dimensional havoc in the image. The concepts of inside and outside are troubled and the act of enclosure itself creates a screen on which to project the filmmaker’s own image.

the object which thinks us: OBJECT 1
Samantha Rebello UK 2007 7’
“Utilitarian objects, related to health and hygiene, rendered in unconventional ways. This unsettling film questions the way in which we relate to our surroundings by exploring the ‘radical otherness’ of things.” —Mark Webber, London Film Festival
objectwhichthinksus.blogspot.com

You Can
Lin de Mol Netherlands 2008 3’15
Details of a room counteract with slow pans across trees, duckweed and brushwood, describing the mood of a moment like a string of haikus. The opening aria of Bach’s Goldberg Variations forms the frame of this ‘associative editing’ piece which references the still-life paintings of Dutch artists Pieter Claesz and Lara de Moor.
www.lindemol.com

The Parable of the Tulip Painter and the Fly
Charlotte Pryce USA 2008 3’50
An intoxicating flower; a metaphorical insect; a longing reach across the centuries. The Parable of the Tulip Painter and the Fly is a philosophical search drenched in luminous colours and sparkling light.

Fore-and-Aft
Sara MacLean Canada 2008 5’46
Fore-and-Aft was created by the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada—site of the highest tides in the world. Images of the tides are married with celluloid that was buried in the sea bed and dragged through the ocean behind a boat, recording tactile evidence of the repetition and changes wrought by tide cycles.

Masking for Serene Velocity - Heat Shot 3
YeonJeong Kim South Korea 2008 11’
Referring to Ernie Gehr’s masterpiece Serene Velocity, YeonJeong Kim’s film explores the speed and movement between ordinary signs and memories. The collision between 16mm and 35mm film creates new movement and new meanings of film itself, materially—as well as a subtle range of emotions.
www.yeonjeong.com

Current Shot 01
Philippe Gerlach & Stefan Kushima Austria 2007 15’
“Like a picture puzzle where you have to look for the differences, the detail oscillates between animated photography, film still and tableau vivant. And precisely this suggestiveness makes Current Shot 01 so fascinating: the slightly weird impression that results when faceless figures – motionless and then in motion – start looking at you...” —Alexandra Seibel
www.philippegerlach.com
www.backlab.at/kushima

Umino-Eiga (Film of the Sea)
Takashi Ishida Japan 2007 12’
A black-and-white film is projected onto a wall. Blue paint starts to issue from the projected image, until the room is filled with paint and the distinction between room, image and seascape is lost, to dizzying effect.
www.geocities.jp/office_ishidatakashi