Archeology of cinema at the Whitechapel Gallery

 Magic, illusion and science stand side by side in the history of images in motion. Examples of machinery, documents, and films in black and white belonging to the pre-cinematic era are presented at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, a journey back in time that offers an in-depth look at the «archaeology of cinema.»^[1]

The arrival of images in motion could be distinguished by the antecedent developments in photography and, centuries before, the magic lanterns of the XVII Century which were adopted as «eyes that illuminate the invisible» (Brunetta). «While looking at this transition in both historical and technical terms – states the curator Gaia Tedone in her essay for the catalogue – [the exhibition] attempts to articulate a parallel trajectory which considers the use of doubling as a suggestive vehicle to signal the apparition of another world. A world ruled by the laws of imagination, illusion and paranormal phenomena.^.[2]

The history of this passage overlaps with the one of the collections. This exhibit concludes a series dedicated to new approaches to collecting in England. Many pieces arrived from the Barnes brothers’ collection, which have been collecting and preserving a wide assortment of ephemera and everything that revolves around the technologies of images in motion and products related to their diffusion since they were thirteen years old. Those presented in the exhibition are kept at the Hove Museum. The first movie cameras dating back to the early 20^th century and examples of 19^th century magic lanterns used for the very first animations and presented for the occasion of the project are also on loan from this collection as well as from the one belonging to The National Museum of Cinema in Turin (Italy).

 The title, Twixt Two Worlds, refers to the book of the same name in which John S. Farmer tells of the life and career of English illusionist William Eglington.  Several of his works are on display which illustrate the effect of double exposure and superimposition in photography, a fundamental premise for later experiments with film by pioneer George Albert Smith (1864-1959). The first magical lanterns were illusionistic as well, an impetus for the imagination, a magical application of the logic of the microscope and the recently invented telescope. In the 18^th century, under the powerful influence of the philosophy of Enlightenment and after having surpassed the fascination for the unknown, magical lanterns developed into a tool of scientific divulgation before becoming obsolete – the same destiny reserved for all future technologies once they had been replaced by the progress of time.

 Capturing a moment with longer exposure was what would lead Muybridge to experiment with photography in order to study motion in time through sequences which eventually developed and brought about the very first cinematic sequences. Brunetta explains in her essay that traces the history of image and its encounter with the dark room from Da Vinci to the Lumière brothers: «Cinématographe is inserted within a chain of well-ordered visual inventions that took place with increasing rhythm since the discoveries of Niépce and Daguerre throughout the second half of the 19^th century»^[3] The facts speak for themselves: the Lumière brothers, aware that they were in the final stage of an ongoing path, defined their first experiments as photographies animée, indicating them as an added value to the truly extraordinary discovery of photography.

 A series of pre-cinematic films like those by the aforementioned George Albert Smith (1864 – 1959) and pioneers of the Brighton school like James Williamson (1856-1933), Robert W. Paul (1869-1943) and William Friese-Greene (1855-1921) are made visible through modern technology. Issues regarding the preservation of these works grow in proportion to the evolution of technology and supports. It is therefore important to preserve as much documentation as possible and make it visible in order to provide historical continuity to contemporaneity by rediscovering its roots in the past when technology, which is now obsolete, was a novelty of absolute progress at the time.  Contemporary artists are also on display: Douglas Gordon (b. 1966), Saskia Olde Wolbers (b. 1971), Steven Pippin (b. 1960) and Susan Hiller have all incorporated certain aspects of cinematic archaeology into their work, considering its iconic idiom.

A series of pre-cinematic films like those by the aforementioned George Albert Smith (1864 – 1959) and pioneers of the Brighton school like James Williamson (1856-1933), Robert W. Paul (1869-1943) and William Friese-Greene (1855-1921) are made visible through modern technology. Issues regarding the preservation of these works grow in proportion to the evolution of technology and supports. It is therefore important to preserve as much documentation as possible and make it visible in order to provide historical continuity to contemporaneity by rediscovering its roots in the past when technology, which is now obsolete, was a novelty of absolute progress at the time.  Contemporary artists are also on display: Douglas Gordon (b. 1966), Saskia Olde Wolbers (b. 1971), Steven Pippin (b. 1960) and Susan Hiller have all incorporated certain aspects of cinematic archaeology into their work, considering its iconic idiom.

Twixt Two Worlds, curated by Gaia Tedone, Contemporary Art Society, Whitechapel Gallery
, 10.06– 31.08. 2014, touring at : Towner, Eastbourne
11 Oct 2014 –  Jan 2015