Abandon Normal Devices (AND) 2010

Join us for this year’s Abandon Normal Devices (AND) Festival of New Cinema and Digital Culture in Manchester from Fri 1 – Thu 7 October 2010, where we once again invite a host of international cross-platform artists and filmmakers to investigate the question: what are normal devices? How and why might we abandon them?

With an emphasis on explorations of identity, behaviour and systems, that define who and what we are, the 2010 edition of Abandon Normal Devices features brand new commissions from internationally renowned artists, filmmakers and cultural provocateurs, highlights of which include a special collaboration and exhibition with artist Phil Collins; the UK premiere of Gillian Wearing’s first feature length film Self Made; human vacuum packing from controversial artist Laurence Malstaff in the form of his live performance, Shrink; and UnSpooling – Artists & Cinema, a gallery based exhibition of work from artists and fillmmakers which explores the materiality of film and the history of cinema.

Midnight Mass, from New York Drag artist Peaches Christ will encourage bad cinema and even worse behaviour; and Mechanical Games is an interactive online activity, where people can upload one minute films of themselves competing in sporting feats, a special award ceremony will take place live at AND Festival for the winning entries.

Offering a high calibre and energetic programme with AND Salons, workshops, screenings and performances Abandon Normal Devices 2010 will sprawl across and out from Manchester’s cultural spaces.

Please note that all festival film screenings will start at the time advertised.

The debut AND festival took place in Liverpool Wed 23 – Sun 27 September 2009 at FACT, and throughout Cumbia during the Spring of 2010 will be coming to Cornerhouse in October 2010.

Abandon Normal Devices (AND) is a new festival that welcomes audiences to experience the best in new cinema and media art in a celebration that spills from screens and galleries into the streets and imaginations of the North West. AND exists to create a space where artists and filmmakers can offer striking new perspectives, and visitors can enjoy, discuss and interact with ideas, in a festival that questions the normal and champions a different approach.

The festival will take place in Liverpool and Manchester on alternate years, with an extended programme in Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire. Expect an eclectic array of screenings, installations, online projects, public realm interventions, workshops and live events, with a distinctive emphasis on ideas and discussion.
AND is driven by a new collaborative partnership between three of the UK’s leading institutions dealing with art and digital culture. FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool, Cornerhouse in Manchester and folly in Lancaster have joined forces to collaborate on the exciting task of imagining a new festival from scratch.

AND is part of WE PLAY, the Northwest cultural legacy project for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. WE PLAY is a Legacy Trust UK funded project led by the Arts Council, Northwest on behalf of new regional partnerships. WE PLAY is presented in the Northwest as part of beinspired.