TAKE 291: 04-08-2005

KURT D'HAESELEER (de Film Fabriek) - FOSSILISATION (MiniDV, 9 minutes)

Video is used as a kneading machine. Layers of images are moulded into a sticky mess that absorbs and attracts everything that it touches. It's an apocalyptic endgame starring several cars, some human remains and maybe even wishful thinking on a moody rainy day. A hermetic meditation on the happy decay of Western civilisation, it blends into a dirty pixel cocktail with a sour aftertaste

MARTIN HAMBLEN - DOGOD (MiniD and cameraphone, 11 minutes)

Dogod was filmed without permission using DV and a mobile phone whilst working at a police kennels; the daily routine of becoming like a dog, confined in space and time, chasing their tails twenty-four seven, whistle while you work, c'est une vie de chien

ESTHER JOHNSON - LENOX (MiniDV, 10 minutes)

This short experimental documentary is a layered audiovisual look at the past and present of Buffalo's old Hotel Lenox. The hotel is a space in which time stands still, an atmospheric place of mystery with many stories contained within its weathered walls. Through static compositional shots, we are taken on a journey through the hotel's interior of faded 20s art deco versus shabby retro Americana. Lenox is a mysterious short showing a mature and insightful take on themes of public and private space.

GIANLUCA BONOMO - SEIZE (MiniDV, 12 minutes)

An experimental short film and a tribute to Ingmar Bergman. Freely inspired by 'The Seventh Seal', the film reveals the surreal life, dreams and action of some odd quasi-human creatures who transcend human nature as we know it. In a cold and snowy environment. they engage in an unusual surreal dwell, a stylised chess game where movement and stillness merge into a form of minimalist dance. We can see that the are very similar. mirrored images of each other. Could they simply be reflections of one single entity? Could they be 'death' dealing with itself?

RUTH HINKEL-PEVZNER - ANNA (Super 8mm, 2 minutes 30 seconds)

A reminiscence of childhood days out and ambiguous memories, set to found footage and sound. 'Anna' is an investigation of our childhood reminiscences and nostalgia for bygone days: the manner in which the reconstruction of these past experiences creates a new and artificial history. The use of found footage emphasises the construction process of creating memories. The music in the film is played by Ruth's great-grandmother, whom she had never met.

RICHARD SQUIRES - SIX RÊVE (MiniDV, 11 minutes)

A woman stands at the end of a hallway, an egg in one hand, balloon in the other. A man dreams he is sleeping next to the victim of a particularly virulent form of Norwegian scabies.

A woman receives a nighttime visitor with a rash on his neck. A dog's anus becomes a hypnotic communicator.

Six dreamers recount their reveries in a hallucinatory and humorous confessional. As the audience witness, decipher and interpret, elements of persuasion in the work seek to encourage minor bodily reactions in the viewer

ERIKA YEOMANS - IN SEARCH OF BAS JAN'S MIRACULOUS (1997, Mixed Media, 39 minutes)

A humorous romanticised experimental narrative about the life and art of 1970's Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader (recent star of Tate Modern's 'Open Systems' show), and his mysterious disappearance at sea. The short is part documentary send-up, part Technicolor Biopic, with stolen bits of films from Hollywood films such as Lust for Life and Sound of Music, among many others. The 291 show is the first London screening.

'Ader would be honoured by Yeomans' work. She has made a video that can be considered a personal and romantic search for the myth of Bas Jan Ader.

Take 291 is curated by Charlie Phillips for 291 Gallery