An installation consisting of a series of three specially constructed viewing boxes that occupied an uncertain formal space; somewhere between minimalist sculpture and pre-cinematic viewing devices. These miniature cinemas each housed a short super-8 film shot in London during December 2011. Each of these films revisits the location of an iconic 1960/70s feature film. Locations that are inextricably linked to the narrative and psychological operations of the original films.

The locations and films:
Kensington Mansions (Repulsion, Dir. Roman Polanski, 1965)
Maryon Park (Blow Up, Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966)
Thamesmead (A Clockwork Orange, Dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1971)

Conceived of as an exercise in cinematic archaeology, Optimum Viewing Distance re-imagines these locations through a pictorial and structural approach that operates alongside the narrative confines of the original films.

Kensington Mansions
Super 8 film transferred to digital file (duration: 3 mins 15 secs)
Digital photo frame
Plywood box (dimensions 40 x 33 x 100 cm)

Maryon Park
Super 8 film transferred to digital file (duration: 4 mins 5 secs)
Digital photo frame
Plywood box (dimensions 40 x 33 x 100 cm)

Thamesmead
Super 8 film transferred to digital file (duration: 4 mins 29 secs)
Digital photo frame
Plywood box (dimensions 40 x 33 x 100 cm)

Institute of Contemporary Art Newtown
27 April – 13 May 2012