Supporting contemporary art
Museum of Garden History, London
1 July to 31 August 2004
July 21 and 22 at The Museum of Garden History, London
Doors open at 8:30pm
A film programme curated by Peter Todd, especially commissioned for Tempered Ground.
Tronco Luxurioso Olivier Bougnot, 1992, 12mn, France - Images of flowers and whispered words.
L'Arbre Bleu Marcelle Thirache, 2001, 2mn, France - A plane tree filmed from a window, then painted on.
Landscape (for Manon) Peter Hutton, 1986/87, 11mn USA- Black-and-white homage to the Hudson River School of American landscape painting.
The Flower Fairy Pathe Freres, 1910, 1mn, France- The Pathe stencil-tinting colour process involved the brushing of coloured tints onto each copy of the film, frame by frame, each colour being a separate application.
Im Garten Ute Aurand & Baerbel Freund, 2002, 29mn, Germany- Portrait of a garden, which the gardener and philosopher of nature Karl Foerster designed in 1910 in Potsdam-Bornim, filmed in monthly intervals to show how the garden changed over a year.
The Garden of Earthly Delights Stan Brakhage, 1981, 2.5mn, USA- A collage of mountain zone vegetation.
An Office Worker Thinks of Their Love, and Home Peter Todd, 2003, 4mn, UK- A reflection on the varied cycles of daily life.
Portrait of Ga Margaret Tait, 1952, 7mn, UK- Unwrapping a sweet, digging in the garden, a portrait of the filmmaker's mother at home on Orkney.
Fur Frau Foerster Ute Aurand & Baerbel Freund, 2002, 5mn, Germany - Clearing snow from plants, Frau Foerster seen in her garden.
Valentin de las Sierras Bruce Baillie, 1967, 10mn, USA- Skin, eyes, horses, sun, earth, and a song.
Quiproquo Rose Lowder, 1992, 13mn, France- Nature and industry (filmed at Mount Ventoux and Berre L'Etang).
The films physically are in Berlin, London and Paris, but for two nights in July were in South London at the Museum of Garden History.
here were three strands: films which are painterly - either with paint actually on film like L'Arbre Bleu and The Flower Fairy, or rich with imagery like The Garden of Earthly Delights, and Landscape (for Manon); film poems and film portraits like Fur Frau Foerster, An Office Worker Thinks of Their Love, and Home, Portrait of Ga, and Valentin De Las Sierras; and the essay films, Im Garten, and Quiproquo. Screened together, they overlapped and new resonances emerged.
Running time approx 100 mins Projection by David Leister Curated by Peter Todd.
Works on 16mm film from the collections of bfi London, Light Cone Paris, LUX London and Friends of the German Cinematheque Berlin.
Supported by Arts Council England
