Antimatter [media art]

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"Antimatter [media art]"

Courtesy of the Gallery.

While Antimatter [media art] is a powerhouse in the world of experimental moving image work, its programming remains personal, intimate and thoughtful. The 25th annual festival this October 20 to 30 will present more than 120 films and live expanded cinema performances—in-person and in online streaming programs, as well as free public installations and virtual artist talks/profiles. Hailing from more than 30 countries, three-quarters of festival offerings are world, North American or Canadian premieres.

“We’ve never supported the false dichotomy between experimental film and visual art,” says Antimatter Curator Deborah de Boer. Deluge Contemporary Art, the venue for Antimatter screenings, has a track record of organizing international exhibitions of artists working within and beyond the medium, one of the few galleries in the Americas with this particular focus. “Media installation is an interesting approach to exhibition making, with organizers reliant on hardware and modifications of space to provide options for presentation, while digital files can be shared around the world in seconds. The festival has a unique place in the ecology of media art. Often the films we show at Antimatter are world or Canadian premieres and as a result they find homes with North American distributers. Beyond the festival circuit, many of these artists want their work to be seen in the larger context of galleries, institutions, biennales and art fairs and Antimatter can help facilitate this. Participating artists often teach, program screenings and organize exhibitions, so connections made via the festival pave the way for future collaborations."

“The past two years limited travel and engagement events around Antimatter," says festival director Todd Eacrett. "While this spurred some creative virtual solutions, artists and audiences are still eager for in-person experiences and connections. We’re excited about the return of live performances and larger capacities at festival, while maintaining global connectivity through online and live-streamed programming. The sheer number of participating artists planning to attend this year—from the region, across Canada or internationally—is truly gratifying and promises a wealth of exchange and interaction.”

Responding to restrictions on travel and audiences during the pandemic, Antimatter introduced the Automat component in 2020, commissioning filmmakers to produce a series of genre-defying artist talks/profiles available on the festival website. Highly popular with audiences and participants alike, this year's Automat will include videos by Pierre Ajavon (France), Siku Allooloo (Canada), Erin Weisgerber (Canada), Melina Kiyomi Coumas (USA), Scott Fitzpatrick and Alyssa Bornn (Canada), Laurence Henriquez (Aruba/Romania), Anna Kipervaser (USA), Bernd Lützeler (Germany/India), J.M. Martinez (USA), Nicole Rayburn (Canada), Matt Soar (Canada) and Kalpana Subramanian (USA).

Bookending the festival will be two media performances. Los Angeles-based Melissa Ferrari will present Relict: A Phantasmagoria, an experimental documentary performed with antique magic lanterns and hand-drawn animation. Invoking the history of magic lantern phantasmagoria as an exercise in belief and perception, Relict considers the zeitgeist of pseudoscience, fake news, religion and documentary ethics collapsed within contemporary cryptozoology. Sara Sowell's Dada’s Daughter is an expanded cinema performance using 16mm projections and a live score. Hand-developed black and white 16mm photograms (based on Man Ray’s “rayograph” process) are re-animated live with the same cinema-objects to create tactile optical images highlighting the tension between ontological concepts of cinema—the material and the ephemeral.

Advance tickets for screenings and performances can be purchased on the Antimatter website. Installations and online programs are free or by donation. The complete schedule and festival program guide is available online and throughout Greater Victoria at the beginning of October.