Smiths Row and the Cambridge Super 8 Group in association with Abbeygate Picturehouse in Bury St Edmunds near Cambridge will present a new work by Swiss art-collective MOBILESKINO.
La Tête Infernale is a film installation that celebrates the early cinema trickery of French pioneer Georges Méliès. In the tradition of the Kinetoscope, viewers can look inside a peephole and see a 3D effect moving-image of Méliès’ head preserved in a glass bottle. The illusion is created entirely with 19th century stage magic tricks and Super 8 film; and without the use of CGI or any hidden digital components.
MOBILESKINO is a collective of artists, animators, film-technicians and sound designers. The group’s projects occupy the space between digital and analogue media. Conducting research in the field of interactive environments, the group combines mechanical and electronic technologies to build art machines and installations.
Méliès was an illusionist and pioneer in early cinema special effects such as the ‘stop trick’ and hand colouring. His most famous film A Trip to the Moon (1902) is regarded as the first science fiction movie.