“Machine Space” by Stephen Connolly
Published
Machine Space (2018)
Stephen Connolly
HD video, 24:20 min.
Machine Space is an essay film exploring the city as a machine; a place of movement and circulation. It is a visualization of the ideas of Henri Lefebvre, philosopher of space and urban life. It uses performative techniques, in movement around the city by automobile; and the playing of a game of primitive capital accumulation aligned with personal biography. A suburban family playing LIFE functions as a Greek chorus; their game an allegory for the city as a fluid, spatial-capital machine. The city is Detroit, a place that has changed from producing the means of movement to producing space itself. The film uses formal representational devices to explore this content, and reflects on the materialisation of “white privilege”in the built environment; how an urban space can be formed to serve the interests of one ethnic community above others.
Stephen Connolly (b.1964, Montreal) is an artist filmmaker teaching at the University for the Creative Arts. His practice as the Spatial Cinema is the culmination of many years of moving image research into the negotiation of space and the material environment through film. His work has been shown in film and media festivals worldwide since 2004. He has been the recipient of prestigious production grants from FLAMIN and the Arts Council.
Latent City
Latent City presents artistic productions dealing with the city’s hidden stories. Seen through the lens of artistic observation, hidden stories, latent infrastructures and questions of digital presence and of power and democracy in our cities, meet in an exhibition that takes place over three weeks. The Latent City is the city that awaits, the one that is about to unfold, our common future city.
Several of the art projects are financed or commissioned by BEK, while others are existing works presented in new formats. A video program will be on show throughout the project period and there will be an extensive program of talks and performances. Please read more about the project and the programme here.
