Corpocinema

Jeffrey Shaw: Corpocinema
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Jeffrey Shaw: Corpocinema
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The Corpocinema ('corporeal cinema') was an expanded cinema environment presented in a series of open-air performances in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in 1967. The basic structure was a large air-inflated transparent PVC dome onto which film and slides were projected from outside. These projections were made visible by physical events and performed actions that created temporary conditions that materialised the projected imagery within and on the surface of the dome. The Corpocinema dematerialised the opaque flat projection surface of traditional cinema by creating instead a transparent three-dimensional volume within which the cinematic image could be reconstituted in an equivocal and immediate way. The specific physical and temporal qualities of the various actions and events performed to materialise the projected images also caused dramatic transformations and reconstructions of those images. For example, white polythene tubing was inflated until it filled the interior of the dome, thus creating a complex, growing surface on which the image appeared - then the dome was deflated over this tubing. Fire-extinguishing foam was sprayed over the entire inner surface of the dome, building up an opaque white projection surface - and as the foam dripped off the dome, the projected image disintegrated. Various other substances such as smoke, steam, water spray and confetti were used to fill the interior space of the dome and so constitute a volume of particles on which the projected images were attenuated. Fireworks let off inside the dome created lighting, colour and smoke effects that transformed the projected images. A crane was used to allow performers to spray coloured powders and throw liquid paints and crepe paper over the dome surface, creating an impastoed screen surface. Live performers and musicians were also coactive in the space and discourse of the filmic projections. Some of the films used in the Corpocinema were: Continuous Sound and Image Moments , Vrig en Onverveerd (a documentary of the wartime occupation of Holland), Wasmiddelen Van Nu (a documentary history of washing powder), In De Schaduw Van De Mens (a film about rats), Duel In Fiet Luchtruim (a documentary of aircraft dogfights), De Morgenster (a film of tramps scavenging through the streets of Amsterdam).