OVER THE CITIES OUR GRASS WILL GROW

ART ON SCREEN

This Sunday sees the third and final part of our ART ON SCREEN season with the beautifully meditative film by Sophie Fiennes OVER THE CITIES GRASS WILL GROW; on the work of Anselm Kiefer the German born painter and sculptor who studied under Joseph Beuys at Kunstakademie Dusseldorf, heavily influenced by Georg Baselitz, Kiefer’s  

Unflinching willingness to confront Germanys culture's dark past, and unrealized potential, his works are often done on a large, confrontational scale to represent the magnitude of what had gone before. It is also characteristic of his work to find signatures and names of people of historical importance, legendary figures or places encoded into his work. This is Kiefer way of process the past his; his use of material is negated by the piece with his use of objects both natural and manufactured, this has resulted in his work being interpreted as a type of New Symbolism. His work spans beyond art a veers into Socialist architecture with his passion for the work of Albert Speer and Wilhelm Kreis. Kiefer is like a sponge and allows his work can take on the culture and atmosphere of whichever environment he is working within, which became quite evident in his work when he spent a period of time in India. As an artist he was comfortable working in print, painting, photography, woodcuts and sculpture and it was this versatility that has been ever present throughout his career.

Next up is THE BRUCE LACEY EXPERIENCE a film by JEREMY DELLER and NICK ABRAHAMS; this film looks at the work of artist filmmakers and ever-present absurdist BRUCE LACEY the legendary figure on the British counter cultural art scene in the1960s. Working with everyone from the GOONS to KEN RUSSELL too collaborating with Turner prize-winning Jeremy Deller who co-directs this enchanting documentary Bruce Lacey has become a cultural icon revered by artists, filmmakers and musicians. A night of art and documentary for lover of both art and film.    

ROBERT ALTMAN AND JEFF KEEN

NASHVILLE AND SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION & 24 FILMS

This week’s double bill is a continuation of the CULTIVATE art on screen with two of film and arts most inventive practitioners, the fiercely original JEFF KEEN who effortlessly jumped between drawing, painting, writing, poetry, filmmaking, animation and sculpture. Making a piece of art every day for fifty years till the day he died Jeff Keens work predominantly attacked the political classes and their dominance on the social psyche. His work examines the growing disparity between the classes the political and cultural dominance of America, the purification of war throughout the Middle East and ex-colonial countries beyond the North American and western European states.  Jeff Keen used his love of comics and film to illustrate and represent his ideas as well as hold a mirror up to society, his amalgamation of beat poetry, collage and animation on found footage became his signature style a constant presence within his films and zine publications. His innovative DIY counterculture approach to his craft had him compared on many occasions to Andy Warhol’s Factory due to his prolific work rate. This throw away comparison misses the point of Keen’s work and why he produced work at such a frantic rate, his work was documenting the ever changing times we live in, by reproducing, questioning and challenging popular ideologies’ and using art to examine the world around us in the immediate through film, collage, text, drawing or painting. He made over 70 films under the RAYDAY films Monica have influenced countless artists and filmmakers and within creative circles is seen as far more influential than Warhol.  Followed by Robert Altman’s NASHVILLE Altman’s masterpiece analyses the American political system through the critical panorama of American society in the mid seventies. Looking at race, poverty, social and political divides. His examination of populism and its perversion of vision and their populist vision, Altman is one of America’s most famous satirists and NASHVILLE is a fine example of why, his style is yet to be replicated.

Jeff Keen,s films will be scored live by Manchester based artists THF DRENCHING, DAVID BIRCHALL and ODIE JI GHAST. 

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPE AND MODERN LIFE

ARTISTS MEDITATION DOUBLE BILL

This week’s double bill is the first of our artist meditations on film with two visual masterpieces. First up is MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES this thought-provoking blend of art and films looking at the work of EDWARD BURTYNSKY whose large-scale photographs document the devastating impact of industrial expansions on the environment. Looking at ethics through aesthetics and shifting our consciousness about the world we live in, the film follows BURTYNSKY and his travels through China photographing the evidence and the effects of country’s massive industrial revolution and it’s impact on the rest of the world. Next up is MODERN LIFE we take a gentle stroll through the French farming community, the simpering yet illuminating documentary wraps you in a soft sensual cloak and takes you on an idyllic journey, visually stunning and character driven documentary is a filmic delight and an undiscovered gem.

With the usual free popcorn and rum

ROLLER BALL AND PRIME TIME

MEDIA MANIPULATION DOUBLE BILL

This weeks double bill looks at media manipulation. First up is the 1975 sci-fi classic ROLLERBALL set in 2018 where countries have been replaced by corporations and one game has griped the world. The participants have become icons, all be it disposable icons; And when their stock runs out or the powers that be feel their power being eroded a new super player is waiting in the wings this stark look at celebrity and corporate manipulation has become a sci-fi classic. Played with typical 70's grit married with hi-camp it will have you joining the dots between fantasy and reality. Next up is PRIME TIME the guys behind PRIME TIME were the architects of parody film by creating a film that revolves around television through a series of television clips, this and made film was put together on a shoe string budget and independently released turning it into an underground classic. With the usual free popcorn and rum.