From eye to mouth, from mouth to eye:
A 16mm film screening by Anja Dornieden & Juan David Gonzalez Monroy
Wednesday, 06.02.2013 at 8:00 PM
Mindpirates | Schlesische Strasse 38 | Haus F (3rd Hinterhof) | 10997 Berlin
In the lost city of Inilosap film spectatorship was not considered a passive activity, much less entertainment. Film was considered a disease, a particularly contagious virus. One could not avoid it, and therefore had to be prepared for it. Children were not allowed to attend the films that were projected every night in the main square of the city. Attendance however was mandatory for all adults. To be allowed to watch a film, every child went through years of training. Completion meant entry into adulthood. At this stage they were lead into the main square and made to sit through their first screening with their backs to the screen. Nevertheless, on occasion, audience members were known to have perished while viewing the films. One story told of a man and a woman who burst into flames during a screening. They were hugging each other as they spontaneously combusted in the first row.
Most film rolls had no discernible creator. Although every citizen was trained in the use of cameras no one could recollect having created any particular set of images. Some films were credited to people that nobody seemed to know or remember. Because of its recognized danger the screen acquired sacred qualities. Films were screened in absolute silence and then discussed for days at a time. New edits were argued and then decided upon. Eventually the films supplanted the spoken word. The last found texts claim that the film virus mutated into a distinct type of telepathy and telekinesis. The Eyemouth they called it. Communication took place with and through the screen. The text states that with the power of their minds the films were reedited automatically and continuously throughout each screening. The films grew increasingly longer and the reediting process more elaborate. Before its demise, it seems the city had embarked on a mind controlled film project meant to supersede their known reality.
There is not much we know however about the specific contents of these Eyemouth films. At some point in time the screenings stopped and quite shortly thereafter all the citizens of Inilosap disappeared. A fire seems to have broken out afterwards erasing most traces of the city along with all the films. Some speculate that upon realizing their failure all the rolls of film were strewn across the entirety of the city. Every place and every object was wrapped in images of itself. Every citizen then wrapped him or herself in footage of themselves and then set him or herself on fire. Others suggest that it was the unprotected use of photographic chemicals that caused the fire and the death of all the citizens. Remains of what appears to be a rather large chemical factory have been found at an archeological site rumored to be the location of the lost city. Constant exposure to these chemicals would also lead to certain types of delusions and hallucinations that could explain the claims of spontaneous combustion, telepathy and telekinesis found in the historical record.
What you will see then is an attempt to recreate one of the Eyemouth film rolls. Because of the limited information that we have been able to obtain about their content or the specific manner in which they were assembled, we can most certainly say that our attempt will be a failure. However if any case of telepathy or telekinesis might arise please do not panic. You are free to manipulate the films with your mind as you please. But beware of the dangers involved. Reality has a tendency to resist control.
Program segments (with special intermissions):
You dirty little rat. Took us for a ride, did you? 16mm, 3 min, color, silent.
Awe Shocks 16mm, 3 min, color, sound.
Enter 16mm, 5 min, color, sound.
Eigenheim 16mm, 16 min. color, sound.
Come and dance with me 16mm, 4 min, color, sound.
How To Catch A Mole 16mm, 9 min, color, sound.
Oro Parece 16mm, 6 min, black & white, silent.
More info at Mindpirates