Artists' Film Biennial 2014: Anti-Junkie-Light Selected by Nina Kӧnnemann

Anti-Junkie-Light, selected by artist Nina Kӧnnemann, explores the use of coloured light in public spaces and experimental film.

I initially defined the films I wanted to include in this programme as films about coloured light. But then again, almost every film projection is a projection of light of some colour, except perhaps in the case of Dietmar Brehm ́s Black Death Filter, 2003.

Thomas Wilfred invented the mechanical Clavilux instrument to compose and perform compositions of light, for which he coined the term ‘lumia’. His philosophy was that lumia could stand on its own as an ‘eighth art’ and should be viewed in silence. Showing a documentation of a recorded lumia composition on a cinema screen, does not equal the detail and subtlety of the original work.

Jordan Belson ́s film Cycles, 1974, was a collaboration with Stephen Beck, for which they amalgamated film and video techniques to produce a unique luminous image quality. Another singular visualisation of light was realised by Adam K. Beckett using an optical printer for his film Heavy Light, 1973. For this programme however, I chose another of Beckett ́s animations, Kitsch in Sync, 1974. I chose this because I imagined how the Blackpool Illuminations could be if they were modelled on this film.

In this programme, the light sensibilities of California are juxtaposed with those found in Austria. In his great expanded cinema work Sugar Daddies, 1968, Hans Scheugl illuminates the walls of public toilets with images of graffiti recorded at the same location. He describes this as ‘creating public’.

Blue light is difficult to represent on video resulting in oversaturated patches of pure colour. In the early 2000s, nightclubs and retail branches started to install dark blue light in their customer toilets to make intravenous drug use difficult. The implementation of this scheme is on the decline. (Nina Könnemann)

Programme

Eva+ Nina Kӧnnemann, Anti-Junkie-Licht, 2014, HD video, colour, sound, 1 min
Jordan Belson, Stephen Beck, Cycles , 1974, Beta Sp, colour, sound, 10 min 12 sec
Ernst Schmidt jr., Blauer Ton, 1971, 16mm, colour, sound, 30 sec
Ernst Schmidt jr., Farbfilm, 1967, 16mm, colour, sound, 30 sec
Thomas Wilfred, Opus 147 “Multidimensional”, recorded lumia composition, 1957, documentation on HD video, colour, silent, 9 min excerpt
Jessie Stead, The night I became ambient, 2012, HD video, colour, sound, loop, 3 min excerpt
United Brothers, Fukushima Lampade, 2014, HD video, colour, sound, 2 min
Hans Scheugl, Sugar Daddies, 1968, 16mm, black and white, sound, 9 min
Found footage, Blackpool Illuminations 1998, 1998, VHS, colour, sound, 5 min excerpt
Adam K. Beckett, Kitsch in Sync, 1974, 16mm, colour, sound, 4 min 30 sec
Dietmar Brehm, Black Death Filter, 2003, 16mm, black and white, silent, 10 min
Nina Kӧnnemann, Unrise 2, 2003, dv video, colour, sound, 2 min 10 sec

Nina Könnemann (born 1971 in Bonn, Germany) lives and works in Berlin and Los Angeles. Recent solo projects include “Nina Könnemann”, Ludlow 38, New York (2013); “Bann”, IKON, Birmingham (2013); “Bann”, Vtape, Toronto (2014); “Blackpool Illuminations 1991-2005”, Halle für Kunst Lüneburg (2012) and “Was darf man in einer Demokratie?”, House of Gaga, Mexico City (2012). Group exhibitions include “That’s why I never became a dancer”, Haus der Kunst, Munich (2011); “Strange Interlude”, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012) and “Poor Man’s Expression”, Kino Arsenal, Berlin (2011).