CINEMA OF TRANSMISSION

“The past and futures of transmission technologies will always reflect our humanity back at us. From playful, gesture-based performances of the computer mouse to the pseudo-anonymous assemblage of collective cognitive labor, each screening is a conversation between our material realities and the internet.“

Rhizome recently organized a screening series as a part of the 2023 FWB Festival, an event described by the festival's manifesto as "a destination gathering of new-internet communities, and a temporary network city for creating culture and exploring new ideas." The festival featured friends of the Rhizome community, including Mindy Seu and Joshua Citarella, as well as an incredible array of talented musicians (Caroline Polachek, The Dare, and Yves Tumor to name a few). For Rhizome's contribution, we sought to explore artists' varying relationships to an evolving internet.

The name of this screening series, "Cinema of Transmission," references the NYC-based undeground film movement of the 1980s, "Cinema of Transgression". A manifesto regarding the movement, written by Nick Zedd directs us to "pass beyond and go over boundaries of millimeters, screens and projectors" and this collection of works does just that.

"Cinema of Transmission" was initially used for a rhizome event in 2022.

Part 1 : Performing Internet

To stare into a webcam and demand it stare back at you, the choreographer of pointed, white cursors that dance across the browser. What makes typography scream "read me now !?" What rests between hardware, software, artist, mind, and body? "Performing Internet" is a showcase of work that demonstrates ways in which we’ve performed through, on, and around the browser.

Featuring : Paper Rad, Troy Innocent, Ana Voog, Kit Galloway & Sherrie Rabinowitz, Peter Burr, Mark Fingerhut, Lorna Mills, Yoshi Sodeoka, Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries, James Nielssen, Sebastian Schmieg, and Viktor Timofeev

Part 2: Living Internet
Proliferation of ourselves into a mess of content. Yet - there are stories to be told if you know where to look. The circulation of a commentary that’s been felt a million times, reflected in metrics, likes, and reposts. What are the stories to be told of the internet? What shouldn't have to be loud? A moment of silence.

Featuring: Tabita Rezaire, Sally Pryor, Seth Price, Aria Dean, Conor Mcgarrigle, Josephine Starrs and Leon Cmielewski, and Francois Knoetze

Part 3: Being Internet
What are the things we must do online now to be heard? To listen is to define together what must be told. Shared aesthetic codes wrap around ourselves inside the safety of gated communities—yet onlookers recontextualize our words. A leak of the self. Content. Your words as building blocks for the meta commentary they substack about. Part 3 is an attempt to ride the wave.

Featuring: Kurosai, Coincellpro7, Filip Kostic, Ville Kallio, Sebastian Schmieg, and Meriem Bennani