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Spectral

spectral-cinematics.eu

THE PROJECT

SPECTRAL stands for Spatial, Performative & Expanded Cinematics – Transnational Research at Artist-run Labs.

Over the course of four years, between 2022 et 2025, SPECTRAL is european collaboration gathering six labs run by artists dedicated to analogue film practices with an experimental and DIY approach. We share a common enthusiasm for experimental cinema and its history, from the pioneers who invented moving image, to avant-garde and underground film and cross-media practices.

Collectively we use the term Expanded Cinematic Arts (E.C.A.) referring to the range of practices that we aim to encourage and develop, creating overlapping areas between film labs and a variety of contexts and aesthetic concerns. For SPECTRAL, we draw inspiration from ancient projection rituals such as Asian shadow theater, magic lanterns, and phantasmagorias, as well as contemporary visual and performance arts.

Through the creation and circulation of E.C.A., SPECTRAL promotes plurality and creates sensory experiences based on exchange and communication. Furthermore, SPECTRAL aims to develop new structures and tools for E.C.A. challenging traditional circuits of moving image creation and distribution.

THE PARTNER LABS

Each participating lab will offer a program of residencies. Equipment no longer used on an industrial scale will be enhanced and new devices created. To encourage the expansion of technical knowledge we will hold workshops both on the use of newly developed devices, and on broader E.C.A. techniques. We will also exhibit new works within festivals, events, and touring programs in each of the lab’s regional networks.

DOCUMENTATION

The project also involves the important work of documentation. It will consist of technical information surrounding the production of new devices, video documentation of resulting performances, reports of each workshop, and diverse media such as text, photography, interviews, and sketches, forming a vast E.C.A archive.

These elements will be gathered online through a collaborative wiki and in a final print publication.

MIRE & SPECTRAL

PRISME – Argentique du futur

Within SPECTRAL, PRISME represents a space for showcasing E.C.A. The programme of Mire’s annual festival, which shows the multiple facets of inventive contemporary analog film, will be supplemented by Expanded Cinematic Art proposals, some of which will be produced during the project’s various residencies programmes.

You can find video recordings of performances played at PRISME on our Vimeo channel !

WANDERING SOUNDS AND IMAGES

For this project, Mire has chosen to develop the thematic axis WANDERING SOUND AND IMAGES, in an endeavour to deploy images and sounds in space, an idea of lightness, the possibility of roaming, a philosophy of wandering.The underlying posture of this orientation is the affirmation of the versatile dimension of cinematographic forms, capable of adaptation or even resilience in the face of conjunctural situations such as the advent of a pandemic, or the more deeply rooted complexity of access to creative spaces for artists. Our desire is also to create opportunities for encounters between little-known artistic practices and unexpected audiences, notably by disseminating them outside of traditional presentation structures (public space, city outskirts, rural spaces, wandering, etc.).

This general idea will be developed through a creative research seminar, artistic residencies and a program of workshops for children in so-called “priority” neighbourhoods and for children with sensory disorders.

  • The creative research seminar

Bringing together a team of semi-local, semi-international artists to develop autonomous and portable tools of sound and image projection, this research seminar was held over three 10-day phases : february 2023 at the Studio d’en Haut in Nantes, july 2023 at Rochefort-sur-Loire and finally february 2024 in Nantes at Mire.

This dream team was composed of :

During these different research phases, three news tools for sound and image were developed and perfected, thought specifically for Wandering expanded cinematic performance :

  • 3 modified 16mm projectors autonomous and portable ( 2 Eumig and 1 Eiki) :

Variable speed (from 0 to 24 fps)
Variable light (LED 4000 lumens)
Backward/forward command
Freeze frame

Eumig : very light, approx 3hours autonomy
Eiki : shutter with 1, 2, or 3 blades and variable angle from 10° to 360°, approx 1hour autonomy

  • Modular magic lantern with multiple projection

Projection and retroprojection of opaque or transparent
objects, liquids, and documents
3 sources of light (different colors including UV)
3 different projection formats
360° projection and retroprojection

  • The OctoPloc : a nomadic 8-channel sound system

4 backpacks with a pair of speakers each
Monitoring JBL One speaker
Allows to play and diffuse sound outdoors
Can be used in movement (up to 4 channels) and steady on location (up to 8 channels)

All the research is documented on the collaborative wiki of the Filmlabs network. This information will be updated with user and construction guides.

  • The artists residencies

The first Wandering Residency will be held in Nantes between June 10th and July 7th in collaboration with Lolab. This first residency will focus on the creation of cinematic performance for the urban landscape of Le Breil-Malville neighbourhood.

Find all the info regarding SPECTRAL and its events in all six european labs on the dedicated website : spectral-cinematics.eu !!!