About

Embracing the connections between art and technology, ‘Algo-Rhythms’ includes a collection of abstract films that have been created using mechanical and computer-based devices. Including works by some of the leading figures in this area of abstract filmmaking, such as John Whitney and Stan VanDerBeek, this selection of films explores the intersections between art and science, resulting in a variety of kaleidoscopic and mesmeric viewing experiences.

Please note: Patrons, especially those sensitive to flickering and strobe light sources, are advised that some of these films contain flashing light effects.

Threshold 1972

Threshold explores colour and the transformations that occur when film images are copied in a printer.

The title is intended to imply various forms of threshold or edge when significant transformations occur or are inhibited - the border of a state, the perceptual points when one optical experience transforms to another the point at which an image becomes an abstraction of its shape or movement. Malcolm le Grice

14 minutes | All Ages

Mosaic 1965

A man sets a ping pong ball – a single white dot – into the black background, which proceeds to move and replicate, gathering momentum and mosaic-like complexity in this mesmerising study in movement, colour, and sound.

Mosaic, a further collaboration between the Academy Award-winning Norman McLaren and his NFB colleague and fellow animator Evelyn Lambart carries forward the pair’s unerringly tactile, yet meditatively precise abstract choreography first demonstrated in their Lines studies.

6 minutes | All Ages

Matrix III 1972

Dynamic webs of complex geometry rise and collapse around a central planar motif in this shimmering digital mandala from the father of early computer animation, John Whitney Sr.

Featuring an evocative jazz score from composer Terry Riley, Matrix III is a ground-breaking example of early computerized motion graphics that showcases the affective possibilities of the medium.

11 minutes | All Ages

Euclidean Illusions 1979

In Euclidean Illusions, Stan VanDerBeek, a trailblazer in American experimental filmmaking, offers a contemplative exploration of illusive geometry through optical study and computer-generated animation.

Produced in collaboration with scientist/computer graphics innovator Richard Weinberg while VanDerBeek was then artist-in-residence at NASA’s Space Centre in Houston, Texas, this work stands as an exemplar of late twentieth century computer animation that encapsulates the artist’s interest in new and emerging technologies and their intersection with the moving image.

9 minutes | All Ages

#11, Marey <-> Moiré 1999

“#11, Marey <-> Moiré is a film in which all images were generated by intermittently recording the movement of a line. It is a film about the discontinuity that lies at the heart of the film medium.” – Joost Rekveld

An optic-sonic blast from deep orbit; Rekveld’s feverish and hypnotic abstract work – captured in spellbinding Cinemascope – seeks to unite the chronophotographic techniques of pioneering 19th century French scientist Étienne-Jules Marey with the Moiré Effect, a hypnotic optical illusion generated by the movement of intersecting line patterns.

Utilising a purpose-built machine to manage the movement of film in the camera, light source, shutter rotation, and the passage of a line in front of the camera, Rekveld’s #11, Marey <-> Moiré is a mesmerising stroboscopic journey in planar minimalism that unifies the Dutch artist/filmmaker’s interests in perspective, optics, and the mechanical innovations of early filmmaking.

21 minutes | All Ages