A Whore for the Gore
Peaches Christ / image: Jose Guzman Colon
What better date than Friday 13th to reveal the details (with some surprises still withheld) of the International Premiere of All About Evil; the directorial feature debut of cult horror hostess, Gore Couture icon and director Peaches Christ / Joshua Grannell. Appearing at Cornerhouse as part of Abandon Normal Devices (1 - 7 October), tickets will very soon be on sale - and are set to disappear just as quickly! I'm looking for contributors, volunteers and flat-out fabulous audience members, so read all about it, see some advance snapshots, roll the VT and get in touch!
Atmosphere
Christiane Cegavske: Blood Tea And Red String
It's all systems go (frantically mashes buttons of imaginary control panel) for a forthcoming collaborative project at the generous invitation of Mark Daniels at New Media Scotland and Inspace Gallery, Edinburgh. As part of official fringe activity for the Edinburgh International Film Festival, I'll be presenting two films with live, immersive elements as part of Atmosphere. Programmed in response to cinema auditoria built in the early 20th Century that used elaborate architecture, art and design to create a fantastical setting in which to watch a film, Inspace are re-imagining this concept using networks of sensors, algorithmic software and embedded art devices.
The Call of Cthulhu: copyright HPLHS
For this series I'll be proudly lifting the lid upon Christiane Cegavske's hauntingly beautiful stop-motion animation for adults - an astonishing 13 years in the making - Blood Tea And Red String (Saturday 19th June), accompanied by a vintage tea party. Alternately, Inspace will become Arkham Sanitarium for HP Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu (Thursday 24th June), filmed in Mythoscope to appropriate a vintage 1920s feel. Beware sleeping alien deities from the dawn of time! You should see how cranky they are when they wake up. Complementary medication will be provided.
For more on Atmosphere and to book your free tickets for these and other titles in the limited series (only 60 persons per individual screening), click here. Recently featured in The Skinny.
Eye Candy
Hungry Hungry Eat Head from Bren O'Callaghan on Vimeo.
It's tough when you're in competition with 2098 shows in 265 venues in a city that for a month each year becomes home to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the largest arts festival in the world. Tough, but not impossible. Thanks to Hudson-Powell, Joel Gethin Lewis and the leap of faith required by City of Edinburgh Council who were very polite about my asking if they wouldn't mind if we beheaded their citizens and placed them in a giant cartoon for the afternoon.
After this, our beta launch, we went on to delight the city of Liverpool during AND: Abandon Normal Devices Festival of New Cinema and Digital Culture. If you too can find a way to step into your daydreams and earn enough to get by, I definitely recommend it. Read more about Hungry Hungry Eat Head here.
Tales of Two Cities
With an OCD fury not seen since the woman in the Shake 'n Vac advert ground her Valium and mixed it with a glug of Bacardi, I've been plugging the cracks in this site and pasting up former production duties with a vengeance. My personal favourites A Wall is a Screen now have a page to themselves, as do the rapidly expanding MegaPhone team - flying the flag for those of us who see no reason why computer games should progress beyond the Atari era. Once upon a festival, The Light Surgeons conjured up a storm in a Gothic salon and The Royal Opera House treat us to no fewer than twelve outdoor relays in the past five years.
Into The Woods
You can never have enough magic capes, as I discovered earlier last year. Shamefully I have only just got around to documenting this particular project for the Big Screen Liverpool from Charlotte Gould in partnership with moves, although thanks are also due to my friend Mandy Tolley for creating the most intensely red cloak with the biggest button I have ever seen. Yes, even bigger than Kirsty Allsopp's secret cache.