There’s a treat for film fans at mac birmingham at the moment. Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan’s installation Steenbeckett is taking up the first floor gallery – only the fourth time it’s ever been shown.
Two thousand feet of 35mm film (of a Samuel Beckett play featuring John Hurt) is continuously and precariously moving around the vast gallery space through pulley-suspended sprockets driven by a Steenbeck editing machine. The film is constantly deteriorating as it picks up dust and dirt. Meanwhile, a digital version plays in high definition in an adjacent space, remaining pristine and unaffected by the constant playback throughout the course of the exhibition. The piece explores the qualities and characteristics of analogue and digital film, and the relationship between the recorded archive and human memory.
Steenbeckett runs until 29 November 2015.