The Curse of the Phantom Tympanum book, film, & exhibition in Bourges

Following Graeme Cole's EMAP/EMARE artist residency of September 2017, an exhibition and outpouring of new materials are due to take place in the city of Bourges, France.

The exhibition celebrates the collaborative (p)reconstruction of yet another episode of Mr Cole's artist film cycle, UNIVERSAL EAR. It contains the movie itself, looping every half-hour; additional video materials and properties from the set; scraps of discarded research; and an artist's book, available to buy from the gallery or online. The limited edition book will be removed from sale at the end of the exhibition.

From November 16th-December 2nd 2018, the exhibition UNIVERSAL EAR: The Curse of the Phantom Tympanum will take place at Le Haïdouc – Antre Peaux, the premises of media arts organisation Bandits-Mages, who hosted the residency. The show is a satellite manifestation of an exhibition of EMAP artists' work, RACCOMMODER LE TISSU DU MONDE (Mending the Fabric of the World), curated by Annick Bureaud, which takes place during this year's Les Rencontres Bandits-Mages.

EXHIBITION: UNIVERSAL EAR: The Curse of the Phantom Tympanum
OPENING EVENT: Friday 16th November, 2018, 20.00 (FREE)

WHERE: Le Haïdouc – Antre Peaux, 24-26 route de la chapelle, 18000 Bourges, France.

WHEN: Friday 16th November - Sunday 2nd December, 2018. Monday to Saturday, 14.00 – 18.00. Sunday on demand.

COST: FREE

UNIVERSAL EAR: A Flea Orchestra In Your Ear is now online

The first episode of Mr Cole's artist film series UNIVERSAL EAR is now available to watch online in full.

UNIVERSAL EAR is a lost adventure serial charting Harley Byrne’s ongoing mission: to capture and make available for download “all the world’s music, ever.”

Mr Cole and his roaming, ever-evolving Universal Ear Studios team have made it their business to (p)reconstruct this unfound serial of the future, episode by episode into infinity. Other texts, videos and supporting experiments have also materialized.

A Flea Orchestra In Your Ear was produced during an artist residency at Nexus Art Cafe in Manchester in May 2010 and premiered at Abandon Normal Devices in August 2012. The film stars Stewart Lockwood and Tuesday Betts; music is by Aidan Smith.

In this episode,  heroic ex-postman Harley Byrne travels back in time to 19^th century Romania, to record the world’s first ever remotely delivered electronic music. But while recovering from a dramatic splash-landing, he finds himself falling head-over-heels for his host, the sultry inventress Nola Luna. Is she really all she seems? Will she let him record her electronic ‘Orchitron’? Or will Harley Byrne finally be thwarted in his ongoing mission: to record and make available for download all the world’s music, ever?

A new episode of UNIVERSAL EAR will go into production during Mr Cole's forthcoming EMARE residency at Bandits-Mages in Bourges, France.

Amateri in Split

Mr Cole's latest picture, Amateri, or The Lost Innocents, will premiere at Kino Klub Split in Croatia as part of the cineclub's 65th Anniversary celebrations.

The video was made in collaboration with the Klub during his artistic residency in April-May 2016, and is inspired by the club's specific history and the culture of the Kino Klubs of the region of the former Yugoslavia in general.

A selection of films made by the students of the Institute's roaming art school, Unfound Peoples Videotechnic, will also play.

EVENT: Amateri at Smotra Vi – 65 Godina Kino Kluba Split
WHERE: Kino Klub Split, Ulica slobode 28, 21000 Split
WHEN: Friday, 24th March 2017, 19.00
COST: Free

This project was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. 

Epizoda ? in Bourges

Epizoda ?, the new mid-length movie directed by the Institute's Graeme Cole, will have its world premiere at Rencontres Bandits-Mages 2016, in Bourges, France on November 7th.

Further, upon selection Mr Cole was invited to complete a 'carte blanche' of complementary movies, and thus the program will also feature films by the great Kaori Oda (Thus A Noise Speaks) and Ghazi Alqudcy (My Parents Are Animals). The event also prefigures an artistic residency as part of the EMARE program to take place in early 2017.

Epizoda ? is the first film to be completed by Mr Cole under the mentorship of Béla Tarr at the latter's film.factory in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is an absurdist detective movie following the disintegration of a fictional murder cop to whom the basic procedures of crime investigation remain, themselves, a mystery.

EVENT: Epizoda ? at Rencontres Bandits-Mages 2016
PROGRAM: Soirée Carte Blanche À Graeme Cole
WHERE: UCL Cinéma MCB°, Boulevard Georges Clemenceau, 18000 Bourges
WHEN: Monday, 7th November 2016, 21.00
COST: Enquire at venue.

From The Ground To The Stars (Lost In Bosnia) in Singapore

Lost In Bosnia, the omnibus picture made by students of Béla Tarr's film.factory (including opening segment by the Institute's Mr Cole), continues an impressive festival run with its Asian premiere in Singapore this weekend.

EVENT: Lost In Bosnia
PROGRAM: Imagine

WHERE: National Museum of Singapore
WHEN: Sunday, 30th November 2014, 19.00 

COST: FREE

A Flea Orchestra In Your Ear in Belgrade

The first completed episode of UNIVERSAL EAR gets its mainland European premiere in Belgrade next week.

A Flea Orchestra In Your Ear @ Alternative Film/Video 2012, Belgrade

WHERE: Small Hall, Dom kulture „Studentski grad“ / „Student`s City“ Cultural Center
WHEN: 6th December 2012, 15.00
EVENT: Narrative_1

COST: Enquire at venue

A Flea Orchestra In Your Ear to premiere in Manchester this Friday

Thrills in the hills! Love, tussling and deceit at dizzying altitudes!  The first episode of UNIVERSAL EAR has now been completely (p)reconstructed and will premiere at the 4th Abandon Normal Devices festival in Manchester this Friday.

There’s love, tussling and deceit at dizzying altitudes as heroic ex-postman Harley Byrne travels back in time to 19^th century Romania to record the world’s first ever remotely delivered electronic music. While recovering from a dramatic splash-landing, he finds himself falling head-over-heels for his host, the sultry inventress Nola Luna. Is she really all she seems? Will she let him record her electronic ‘Orchitron’? Or will Harley Byrne finally be thwarted in his ongoing mission: to record and make available for download all the world’s music, ever? Find out in...

A Flea Orchestra In Your Ear @ Abandon Normal Devices
EVENT: AND 2012 Shorts, Programme 1
WHERE: Cornerhouse, 70 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5NH
WHEN: Friday, 31st August 2012, 1pm
COST: £3 - £5.50 (advanced booking recommended)