Expanded cinema spans a wide spectrum of possibilities, novel experiences from wildly different universes. Three of them will appear this year at l'Alternativa, opening the doors to their vast imaginary worlds. The journey kicks off with a dialogue between work by two greats on the expanded cinema scene: the visual fields of Miguel Puertas and the hypnotic, enveloping sound of Zónula. Next stop is the imaginary world of living organisms seen through the microscopes of Arquea Colectivo. And on the closing weekend Zumzeig will screen an autobiographical project narrated live by its author, Ricardo del Conde.
L’Alternativa, Zumzeig and LOOP have teamed up to curate this year’s EXP Cinema section, broadening our sights and enriching our understanding while weaving together the different parts of this visual cartography.
Miguel Puertas & Zónula Hall CCCB, Sunday 20 November, 7 pm (40 min)
Creators: Miguel Ángel Puertas and Robert Martínez
Format: 16 mm film performance, colour, live sound, no dialogue
Abstract visuals and sounds combine to create an aesthetic experience that revels in the material nature of celluloid and the oscillations of waves in different media. Sunlight diffracted through water and synthesised colour and light are enveloped in hypnotic soundscapes to create an abstract piece whose intriguing, poetic passages offer a fresh take on how we perceive film.
Projection mechanisms are tweaked and images are recreated through lenses, filters, loops and reserves, while a soundtrack is created by a combination of electroacoustic and self-made devices. Each performance gives rise to a unique aesthetic dialogue between musician and filmmaker.
This session is free of charge and open to all
In collaboration with
Arquea Colectivo Hall CCCB, Monday 21 November, 7 pm (45 min)
Creators: Marzia Matarese and Patricia Usero
Format: fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms, self-built microscope cameras, modular synthesiser, field recordings and self-built sound gadgets
Arquea Colectivo explores the overlap between sound creation, visual art and biology. Marzia Matarese is on visuals and Patricia Usero is on sound, working intimately with fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms involved in the creative process.
Each performance presents a unique, unrepeatable audiovisual story created by probing living microscopic landscapes being constantly reshaped by the ever-changing organisms and decomposing organic matter that inhabit it. A modular synthesiser, the main instrument used to filter and mutate field recordings, accompanies the scenes by weaving hypnotic, enveloping soundscapes featuring synth drones, organic textures and powerful subs.
This session is free of charge and open to all
Hacía la niebla Zumzeig, Saturday 3 December, 7 pm (30 min)
Director: Ricardo del Conde
Cinematography: Ricardo del Conde and David Aguilar Iñigo
Sound: Pello Gutiérrez
Music: Mursego and Txezne
Super 8 installation: Iñaki Sagastume
Zazpi T’erdi production: Iñaki Sagastume
Kalakalab production: Ricardo del Conde
Production companies: Kalakalab and Zazpi T’erdi
Creative space: Azala
Sound mix: Xanti Salvador
Format: Super 8 installation
Hacía la niebla (Towards the Mist) is an expanded cinema project that stems from my experience of becoming infected with Covid-19, being quarantined and emerging once again into the world in Quebec, Canada.
Film as matter, possibility and metaphor. Relationships with space, memory and yearning. Being a patient zero let me weave a narrative thread to keep up the suspense while playing with distance, memory and space on stage.
Celluloid footage is edited, cut and stuck together on stage. Fifty feet of film are looped around an installation specially created for this piece.
Hacia la niebla can also be seen under another guise as a short competing in this year’s Official Seccions.
TICKET SALES FOR THIS SESSIONIn collaboration with