The chance encounter between a camera and a video camera

A mysterious link seems to reside between Bas Jan Ader film works and the ones by the visual artists’ duo Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs. An inexpressible surrealist link which would not deny the Dali critical paranoia analysis method: “The Millet Angelus as beautiful as the chance encounter of an umbrella and a sewing machine on an operating table”. This link might be there, hidden in the images mysteries; Images either in motion, which question or disconcert as for Bas Jan Ader or still which scramble reality as for Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs.

The movies of this offsite cycle (most of them being shown in their 16mm original format), echo the works of the three presented artists at Le BAL and broach the themes and concepts also seized by experimental cinema.

First of all, the interrogation of the fallen bodies and the struggle against universal gravity as the unseizable object in free-fall from the movieHand Catching by Richard Serra. In a second hand, the infinite visual and sound experimental filmmaker appropriating strategies thanks to the use of pretense or mockeries; as many masks used to illustrate that the cinema is often other than it seems to be.

In the continuation of Bas Jan Ader work, who stages himself putting his own body in danger – a pattern that widely goes through video art and performance history (how can we not recall the Viennese Actionism, the Body Art, Gina Pane, Michel Journiac or Stelarc…) – movies that explore this question and underline the concepts of tension and fragility.

No Fall Without Gravity / Tuesday 4 June 2013 at 8PM 

With nature there are no special effects, only consequences de Flatform 2007, vidéo, coul, son, 2' 03
Terminal City de Chris Gallagher, 1982, vidéo, coul, son, 9' 00
Hand Catching Lead de Richard Serra, 1968, vidéo, n&b, sil., 2' 54
De Blikjesman, Jaap Pieters, 1991, 35 mm, coul, sil., 3' 20
On the Logic of Dubious Historical Accounts, 1969-1972 de Peter Miller et Alexander Stewart, 2008, 16 mm, coul, sil, 18 ips, 6' 30
Solar Sight de Larry Jordan, 2011, 16 mm, coul, son, 15'
Poemfield # 5 : Free Fall de Stan Vanderbeek, 1971, 16 mm, coul, son, 7'
Der Lauf der Dinge de Peter Fischli et David Weiss, 1987, 16 mm, coul, son, 29'

Pretense / Tueday 9 July 2013 at 8PM

Om, John Smith, 1986, 16 mm, coul, son, 4'
Vormittagsspuk, Hans Richter, 1928, 16 mm, n&b, son, 7'
Loose Corner, Anita Thacher, 1986, 16 mm,coul, son, 10'
At One View, Paul et Menno de Nooijer, 1989, 16 mm, coul, son, 8'
Pasadena Freeway Stills, Gary Beydler, 1974, 16 mm, coul, sil, 6'
Zone, Takashi Ito, 1995, 16 mm, coul, son, 12'
L'appartement de la rue de Vaugirard, Christian Boltanski, 1973, 16 mm, n&b, son, 7'
Conical Intersect, Gordon Matta-Clark, 1975, 16 mm, coul, sil, 19'
About zero, Flatform, 2007, vidéo, coul, sil, 3' 42

Body in danger / Tuesday 20 August 2013 at 8PM 

Trypps #7 (Badlands), Ben Russell, 2010 / vidéo / coul / son / 10'
Dance or Exercise on the Perimeter of the Square, Bruce Nauman, 1967-1968 / vidéo / n&b / son / 8'
Pause!, Peter Kubelka, 1977 / 16 mm / n&b / son / 12'
T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G, Paul Sharits, 1968 / 16 mm / coul / son / 12'
Rauchen und Saufen, Albert Sackl, 1997 / 16 mm / coul / son / 10'
Scaling, Mike Hoolboom, 1988 / 16 mm / n&b / son / 5'
L'Homme nu, Georges Rey, 1969 / 16 mm / n&b / sil / 3'
Underwater, Anja Czioska, 1994 / 16 mm / n&b / sil / 3'
Self Portrait Post Mortem, Louise Bourque, 2002 / 35 mm / coul / son / 2' 30