Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Radio Mania: An Abandoned Work
8 May 2009 - 11 Jul 2009
The Gallery at BFI Southbank has gone 3D with a new video installation by British artists Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard. Taking as its starting point 1922 3D film The Man from M.A.R.S., Radio Mania: An Abandoned Work is part film, part rehearsal, captured using contemporary 3D video and audio technologies. The artists have set about creating a contemporary adaptation of this silent film, transporting the viewer into the centre of a rehearsal capturing the actors, artists and musicians at work. Kevin Eldon (Big Train, Hot Fuzz) stars alongside Caroline Catz (Doc Martin), Terrence Hardiman (The Demon Headmaster) and the legendary Fenella Fielding (Carry On Screaming!). Soundtracked by a live band led by Nick Plytas, it also features a Martian dance by comedy actors Ben Crompton, Iain Lee and Ben Moor. Radio Mania: An Abandoned Work runs until 11 July.
The Man from M.A.R.S. was made in 1922 to demonstrate 'Teleview', a stereoscopic motion picture system created by Laurens Hammond who later went on to invent the Hammond Organ. The film played for 24 days in a New York cinema before closing, after which neither Teleview nor the 3D film was seen again. A 2D version is now looked after by the BFI National Archive. Forsyth and Pollard’s project was filmed in a single take at Twickenham Film Studios, with a script by writer and novelist Kirk Lake.
Forsyth and Pollard's practice revels in the grey edges of science and the idea of haunted media. Here they stage an unmissable, entertaining and immersive installation summoning an atmosphere mixing the theatricality of the stage and the illusionism of cinema. The work occupies a state between extended reality and hallucination.
Screenings and Events
The exhibition is accompanied by a series of screenings and events:
A Bunch of Fives
In dialogue with Elisabetta Fabrizi, BFI Head of Exhibitions, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard re-present their past work and key influences in a glittering sequence of five minutes wonders.
Tue 19 May 18:10 NFT3
Thou Shalt Not Know What Thou Do But Thou Shalt Do It + O Lucky Man!
The evening of 27 May will kick off in NFT3 at 18:10 with a programme of works by artists' and filmmakers selected by Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, followed at 19:50 by a screening of O Lucky Man!, by Lindsay Anderson (1973) the artists' favourite film.
O Lucky Man! will also be screened on Sun 31 May 14:20 NFT1
Preview: Do You Love Me Like I Love You, Pt 5: Tender Prey + Q&A with Nick Cave, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Preview of one of the artists' short films produced to accompany the 2009 re-issue of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' influential catalogue, followed by a Q&A. Wed 17 June 18:20 NFT1
Vinyl
Dir. Alan Zweig, 2000
A record collector himself, Zweig created an honest and self reflective film that will not fail to entertain and which has been inspirational to Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard.
Fri 26 June 19:50 NFT3
Radio-Mania + Discussion
Dir Roy William Neil, 1923.
Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard’s new work was inspired by this prophetic curio of the silent screen, originally presented in stereoscopic 'Teleview'. The artists will lead a post-screening discussion with guests.
Thu 9 July 18:10 NFT3
Production stills by James Royall.
