Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

Thomas Draschan (AU)

To the Happy Few – 5’, 2003 Begegnung im All – 7’, 2004 Influence of Ocular Light Perception – 6’, 2006 Delight – 3’, 2008

The Germany-based Austrian artist Thomas Draschan makes collage films in which he cuts up and recycles existing visual footage. His films typically contain a constant stream of iconographic images rushing in front of the viewers’ eyes in a rhythmically pulsating montage. Nearly all of the footage is from the pre-video era in which celluloid still reigned supreme and was widely and frequently used. Scientific experiments, First Aid education, cheap B-movies, soft pornography and nature documentaries; they can all be found in the rich visual archives used by Draschan in his films. The influence of Bruce Conner, the godfather of collage film, clearly echoes through in his films, but whereas Conner shot all his films in black and white, and sepia tones, Draschan’s work shines in glamorous Kodak and Agfa color. By means of suggestive sequences and visual rhyme, Draschan manages to provide the film material with an additional layer. Camera angles, gestures, movements and looks which would hardly catch the eye or only had a functional meaning in their original context, start a new life in the hands of Draschan. They lose their innocence, unintentionally become funny or are suddenly laden with eroticism.

Nathaniel Davies (US)

Dança Angola (numuw mix), 5’, 2008 Naniou Mougne, 7’, 2008 Daniel, 1’, 2008 Tend My Garden, 7’, 2008

The American Nathaniel Davies, who is more widely known under his video pseudonym NUMUW, is just like Draschan engaged in making collage films, yet his approach is totally different. Whereas Draschan can be described as a celluloid fetishist, Davis totally goes for the lo-fi aestheticism of home video and trash television. Time code, tracking lines, drop-outs and on-screen display are equally part of his pallet of images as the grubbiness of VHS tapes copied five times too many, slow-motion car crashes and touristic video images of the Neuschwanstein castle. The soundtrack, featuring music ranging from the Senegalese artist Ndiaga Mbay, Dança Angola and Davis’ own mixes of funk and spineless metal, seems to be wavering loosely above the images and gives an ironic and alienating touch to the whole.

John Heyn & Jeff Krulik (US) – Heavy Metal Parking Lot

17’,1986

Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a short underground documentary from the eighties in which two jong men interview some metal fans gathered on a parking before a Judas Priest gig. Most interviewees look rather wasted already and they show their passion for the heavy metal genre in a frankly manner.