FOOMOO: The space of the cinematic

Join us for a unique compilation of films created by FOOMOO, a loose constellation of artist filmmakers orbiting Manchester.

We are proud to present 6 new artist films seeking to break down the space between the viewer and the screen, and fill the empty space of the auditorium.

In radically divergent ways, the different members of FOOMOO question the traditional cinematic modes of representing time and place, subject and object, inner and outer, text and speech, sound and dialogue, narrative, change, history, power and stillness.

We will be presenting films specially made for the event, with contributions by Manchester School of Art.

Programme

John Lloyd
Interruptions (2016) distributed throughout programme.

Good day,

The patient claims these interruptions are excerpts taken from a VHS tape. Recordings from a VCR machine grafted onto the back of his head. He’s becoming quite delusional. He unequivocally believes the transmissions are parasitic in nature. Please advise.

Alistair I Macdonald
A Summer Voyage (2016)

In 1695, Martin Martin, natural philosopher and tutor to the Chief of the Clan MacLeod, toured the Western Islands of Scotland gathering data at the request of the Royal Society. Martin’s resulting “Description of the West Islands of Scotland”, published in 1703 and one of the earliest geographical descriptions, or chorographies, of the region.

Taking various scientific instruments, filmmaker Alistair Innes Macdonald visited one of the Western Isles, the Isle of Rum, in the summer of 2015 to survey the island and update Martin’s chorography of the island.

Darryl Lonsbrough
So      Far (2016)

This film is just one element of a much wider body of work, which sits firmly within the field of the ‘familial gaze’. These photographs are fleeting, and they are snatched. These moments from a much more condensed picture of family life depict a condition. This condition is personal, but is by no means exclusive within the context of a modern age that we are all apart of.

The work attempts to address issues of distance, time and space, just as much as they try to represent a state of being, of fatherhood, and also, how photography does not always tell the truth. Photography is most definitely a conduit that can perpetuate myths of how life is being lived, but not, necessarily, how life actually is.

Ana O Sanchez
Inner Eye: A visual experience from those who can’t see (2016)

The experimental documentary ‘Inner Eye: A visual experience from those who can’t see’ seeks to examine the visual experience during the sight loss, particularly people suffering from Charles Bonnet Syndrome. It explores ideas like ‘the mind’s eye’ and ‘memory and creation’ and the way individuals process images and ideas internally by the use of storytelling and description. The work concerns the idea of reconciling different approaches to blindness through sensory experience and mental imagery, in a convergence of two worlds: sighted and non-sighted.

Haleemah X
The Desperation of a Melody (2016)

“The Desperation of a Melody” is a poetry film that tells the story of the artist’s personal relationship with words and the musicality of life. The film covers themes of doubt, tragedy, inspiration, survival, and memory. It attempts to provide a glimpse into the mind of the artist, and every day challenges faced to maintain the stability of the artist’s mind, personal beliefs and reaction to exposure. Other themes include time, the notion of reversing, repeating and forwarding.

Alan Sabir Amin
A Long Way from Home (2016)

A former British soldier, traumatised by his experiences and trapped in his own head, is now living rough in the countryside.  Haunted by painful memories and violent flashbacks, is unable to come to terms either with his own past or to accept his current situation. It will take another violent confrontation before he can finally find his way home.