TEACHING AND LEARNING CINEMA – Louise Curham and Lucas Ihlein

Aditya Martodiharjo makes a performance of Horror Film 1 at Big River, Kanchanaburi, Thailand Sat 13 Dec 2025

Today Adit from Lab Laba Laba is going to make a performance of Horror Film 1. The performance is happening in the Big River film meeting organised by Richard and Dianna of Artits Film Workshop/Nanolab, leaders in the artist-run film labs community. Tonight’s performance is happening in the old paper mill in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, day 4 of this extraordinary gathering of film lab members and film maker-artists from all around the region. Check out the attendees list and you’ll see people from Taiwan, India, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan …

So that’s the background.

Why Adit, why in Kanchanaburi

Last year, I met Adit in Solo in central Java but I knew about him before that because Richard told me about the artist-run project he is part of Lab Laba Laba. When we met, we discussed doing some film performances by exchanging instructions. This is our chance to bring at least some of that conversation to life as tonight Adit will use TLC’s manual for Horror Film 1, Malcolm Le Grice’s performance from 1971 (find the manual/Google doc here)

Reflection on conversations on Days 2 and 3 (Thurs/Fri)

Above: Adit and Louise discuss the manual at the Motorcycle Warehouse, a key venue for Big River in Kanchanaburi.

No prior knowledge

Adit has learned about Malcolm and HF1 from our conversations. This performance will be very much how I imagined future users would engage with the manual, not much time to prepare, for a particular event like a festival or screening. This is a good test for the manual. Adit does make expanded cinema himself, here’s a still from his performance on night 3 at Kanchanaburi. So he brings experience as a performer.

Here are some points Adit raised.

More context/contact with Malcolm

Adit felt the instructions from Malcolm in the manual are conversational. Initially Adit said he wanted to make his own version of the instructions so he could make sense of some of Malcolm’s comments for example what does Malcolm mean by the spirit of jazz? What is Malcolm’s understanding of jazz? Initially I thought Adit meant he wanted something more like a list or a recipe for how to perform the work – not the case, he felt that information was there but it was more context for Malcolm or more insight into Malcolm that was missing for him.

We visited the venue on Friday morning, an abandoned 1920s paper making factory, lots of big tan worn walls. Lynn Loo was also at this meeting of film artists, the plan was that she would perform in the same space as Adit, later in the program. Lynn, Adit and I had a chat about understanding Malcolm. I brought up the recording of the first zoom call we had with Malcolm with Oliver (Malcolm’s son) and Jed Rapfoegel from Anthology Film Archives. I could immediately see why it was so helpful to Adit to hear and see Malcolm speak about how he feels about his films and his practice, the section we watched is close to the permission/invitation in the manual. Adit reported this was

Adit makes performances but he’s not a performer

Adit explained that he does make expanded performances but he doesn’t use his body in them in the way he will need to in HF1. This led to a useful conversation about the walk being a procedure, that it’s not so much a performance as carrying out an inquiry into the relationship between the body shadow and the projections during the walk from the screen back to the projectors. This distinction between it being a performance and a procedure seemed helpful for Adit. We also discussed the choices by other performers – Nicci Haines, Lucas, Cinzia and Betija and had a look at the HF1 log book to check Cinzia’s notes.

Here’s an image from Adit’s performance on Friday night in the Big River program.

Adding content or not

In the first conversations Adit returned a few times to Malcolm’s words about the performance being ‘up to you’. Adit initially explored ideas like making the projectors move or bringing in more performers in the second half of the walk. By Saturday he was clear he was going to use Malcolm’s instructions as faithfully as possible so that the audience could see Malcolm’s HF1.

My role

At the hotel before we went to the venue on Saturday, we spent time talking and looking at loops (nongkrong/hanging out in Indonesian). Lynn Loo was with us for some of this and Film Nerve from Singapore passed by – here are Mark and Li Shuen in the background as Adit and Lynn look at the loops.

Adit and I discussed my role. He concluded the best word for my role was ‘consultant’. In the program the performance was billed with both of us named. That’s something to think about in the future. Is that correct?

When we visited the venue on Friday morning and we checked out that Malcolm Zoom call recording, some other things came out in conversation.

The walk is procedural rather than performative. From my experience, you’re looking to find the shapes and give them time. For me, my curiosity about the shadows and the projections is what is driving my performance. It’s quite measured and quite slow. Adit was worried about the duration – I feel that it sorts itself out because you end up exhausting/or getting to the end of what you can do with the projections.

Early on we discussed clothing etc. Adit felt that the nudity issue is a distraction and not really on topic for what is important about the work – the shadows, the body and the projectors but he did appreciate Lucas’ point that it makes the performance a ritual. He felt the inside out t-shirt was the best solution. It worked really well.

After the performance – some reflections

The performance was terrific, Adit was composed and solved the ending really effectively, getting below the projection beam and defocussing, turning off.

Loops

The loops may be on the pale side, these are the Niagara prints. Cinzia Nistico, an artist from Italy has been making very successful performances with her colleague Betijia over the past two years. You can read some of Cinzia’s notes in the manual performance log book here. Cinzia has the loops from Niagara’s first print run which were very pale. She and Betijia resolved this by adding filters to the projectors. This set of loops Adit is using is a different print run with more colour but they are still less dense than how I remember the original.

Lucas and I have begun the dialogue to either re-print Love Story to get a new set of loops or remake the loops in a printer. I think I am favouring re-printing Love Story but let’s see.

So while the Niagara loops are not ideal, I believe Adit’s performance was not compromised by this because the key visual effects of HF1 were present but I expect stronger prints would make it more ‘wow’.

Our set-up time on Saturday didn’t allow time to test in performance conditions – we were first on the bill at 630 and dark fell at 615 so there was not time to explore filters. That would be good to follow up with Cinzia.

Audio

The audio was my breathing track from 2014 streamed into a PA. Adit reported it was a bit quiet for him, midway through he felt he couldn’t really hear it.

Projectors too close

There were limited table and stand options. We used one table for the three projectors. I believe they were a bit close together as the ‘jump’ across frame created by the overlapping projectors was present but subtle. So that surface fitted the three comfortably but with no lee way – it was about 140 cm long. The challenge is to separate them but not introduce keystoning to the overlapping projections on the wall. So it was probably 10-20 cm separation we needed so totaly length about 180cm.

Choose the loops before hand

We spent quite a bit of time finding the right loops with maximum density and minimal scratches (the scratches from our used loops are printed in to the Niagara material). I should have just organised those loops ahead of time. As Adit said later, if you had lots of time, it’s nice for the manual user to do that process but we were short on time.

A paper version of the manual is needed to give to others

While we were setting up, I spent a lot of time talking to people, answering questions and showing them drafts of the manual. A hard copy is really wise for this. Folks can then learn what’s going on but the manual user can keep working. The QR code is useful in the manual for this too.

Early checks in the set up

Is the surface you will project on okay – check the film will show up sufficiently on the wall, think about obstructions or objects on the wall – we had a few, we decided they were fine eg old metal fixtures.

Is the projector height okay – you need to check where your body will be in the projection when you are at the wall and what your shadow does as you come closer. We started out too low and Adit’s body would have filled the frame rather than his hands etc. The starting size is less important but it’s good if at least some of your torso is in the projection.

Is the throw okay? Zoom lenses needed on all projectors? It’s easier with three zooms, you do need at least one zoom for the large image.

Test the loops – are the colours working together okay? As above, a bit of a problem with the current Niagara loops. Remember the Niagara loops have scratches printed in. I got all fussy about this before I remembered those are printed in.

Manual as Google doc, video, paper

Later I talked to Shinkan Tamaki about the manual and he asked if there was a video version. I explained we had made a series of explainer videos but we hadn’t used them yet. I also mentioned our idea of the AI bot where everything we have about HF1 creates a learning model/bot that you can consult to guide you. Re the video, I could see why Shinkan was asking that – there is a lot of text in the manual.

Talking with Adit later, he felt the text was good because it gives the user room to move because you have the step of interpreting the text. He thinks that room to move is really important. If it was a video, it’s a lot more precise and you’d feel you must do it this way.

Dusting off: the Peter Mudie Archives

peter mudie archives flyer

Dusting off: the Peter Mudie Archives
WHEN: Thurs Dec 4, 2025, 11am-12:30pm
WHERE: UWA EZONE North 109
WHO: All welcome!
ORGANISERS: A/Prof Jo Law, Dr Paul Boyé, A/Prof Lucas Ihlein, Prof Eleanor Suess, Dr Louise Curham, Dr Lee Kinsella, with support from Peter Mudie’s family and the AAANZ conference.

In 1993, the late Peter Mudie curated Dusting off the Other. Peter borrowed 16mm experimental film prints from around the world and showed them at the Film and Television Institute in Fremantle. Over three months, the weekly screenings bent the brains and bodies of the local film art community, and students studying art and architecture at UWA.

Peter introduced experimental film practice to the undergraduate curriculum at UWA, and his teaching had a huge impact on many emerging artists over nearly three decades. The viewing of historical works was combined with discussions of the film medium, and the social, cultural, and political contexts of their making. Students were provided with equipment, facilities, and time to experiment with materials. Physical participation and social interactions in film workshops created deep connections within the cohort.

This roundtable discussion focuses on the research, teaching, legacies, and archives of Peter Mudie. Everyone is invited to join us for a “remembering circle” where our direct experiences are shared, and Peter’s legacy is honoured.

metalux logo

BONUS! METALUX SCREENING:
WHERE: ___gs Shop 13, 375 William Street, Boorloo 6000.
WHEN: December 4th, 6 – 9 pm

‘Metalux’, curated by Jo Law and Redmond Bridgeman, and facilitated by Paul Boyé, is a series of experimental cameraless films and experimental video from 1990’s Western Australia. These works represent a scene of cinematic experimentation with materialist methodologies, influenced by the late Peter Mudie. The program considers perception construction, identity formation, and structures of consciousness through an investigation of the material of film.

More info on METALUX screening is on instagram here.

Dusting Off: The Peter Mudie Archives – Flyer PDF

Line Describing a Cone – Jess’ experience

line describing a cone - a panorama - by jess — A panorama by Jess which I think really captures the feeling in the room – embodied experimentation, fuzzy immersion…

When we shared Line Describing a Cone with the students and staff at UOW, we were joined by Jess. She’s a former student of mine who often attends things in an “unofficial” capacity – and this ambiguous role – an insider-outsider – is something that contributes to her valuable insights. Jess’ observations are always welcome and generous, and she often sees things that those of us who are more “embedded insiders” will miss. True to form, soon after we presented the Cone, Jess emailed through this deeply felt and finely described account of her experience. She kindly said she would be happy for us to publish it here. – Lucas
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Line Describing A Cone – some reflections from events at the Drill Hall Gallery and the University of Wollongong

What follows is a report back on the event on Sat 20 Sep at the Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra and today in the theatre in room G04 in building 29 at University of Wollongong.

To my mind, both of these events have been a success but in different ways. The black room at UOW was very kind to the work. Using a standard 50mm lens made the line as sharp as possible, there was a slight shine to the black wall which also made the projection stand out. The throw was long (c. 20 m) which felt spacious and gave plenty of room for the audience of students and academics to get into and around the beam.

The order of events at the Drill Hall seems to have helped build a sense of community in the group. Lucas and I introduced the work and that included Lucas talking about building community as part of the point of expanded cinema and our work with re-enactment. There was lots of hubub as the projector rolled. I recall it quietened as the line emerged and started up again as the cone started to become visible.

The students at UOW benefited from the group of about 8 academics who came to see the work. They led the way in moving around the room and interacting with the light beam. I think all of us prodded students to get up and have a look around (I certainly did). So there was still participation in the room but certainly things were silent at the start.

Here’s a bit of a compare and contrast.

projection conditions – the Drill Hall space was a white-walled gallery, 10 metres long. The xenon Eiki had a zoom lens on it. The white room meant incidental light spilling from the top and side of the projector needed to be shrouded. We blocked the top spill with a white paper, next time that would be better in black as the white paper actually created the side spill (I used my blue jacket to block that).

The active air conditioning created swirl across the gallery, clustering the haze near the projector. Some fanning of haze down the path of the projector beam helped with that.

While both of these seem pretty obvious, it’s worth noting these as some new things to think about:

a white walled room will pick up any spill from the projector
air conditioning will influence the behaviour of the haze.

Line drawing diagram of installation of Line Describing a Cone at the Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra

I’ve mentioned the sense of community was different. The dot points I’d note there:

Showing something to ‘warm up’ the audience and create some space before Line Describing for them to talk to each other seemed to work very well at the Drill Hall. In the early SMIC/TLC screenings, that idea of a ‘warm up’ was something we did often, I recall we have used the language ‘sensitising the audience’ to describe it ie doing something to get them in the receptive zone. My super 8s quite often played that role.
Before the UOW screening, we gave the students the job of folding our new zine about Line Describing. That got them sitting in a circle and interacting with each other but it didn’t get them chatting together in the same way that happened at the Drill Hall.

Students kneeling in a circle folder zines for Line Describing a Cone

While that concludes this compare and contrast section, a new idea came out of thinking about creating community in the group before the projectors roll. Lucas and I did discuss that if we do make another performance outdoors, it would be great to plant some things beforehand or maintain some existing plantings to do something towards paying the rent on the carbon footprint.

I also want to note a technical aspect to screening the film by outlining what’s on the print from Lux. It starts with green leader, then goes into a clock leader and two titles, one with Anthony’s name (I think this also has the year 1973), another with the title Line Describing a Cone. Both the clock leader and the titles are sharp, you can confidently use them to check focus.

CONE & BULB – event info

When: Saturday 20 September, 6.30-8pm
Venue: Drill Hall Gallery, ANU Canberra
Attendance is free, bookings required: Register here

line describing a cone 2015 kandos [Anthony McCall’s Line Describing a Cone (1973) presented at CEMENTA Festival in Kandos, 2015. Photo by Alex Wisser]

CONE + BULB – an evening of landmark Expanded Cinema is a presentation by Australian artist group Teaching and Learning Cinema (Lucas Ihlein and Louise Curham). Closely aligned with the Drill Hall Light Source exhibition’s focus on the technologies of cinema projection, we offer two groundbreaking works from the early days of the London Film-makers Co-op.
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Collecting and Preserving New Media and Performance Art (with Pip and Libby)

Pip Laurenson with film scanner — Pip Laurenson at UCL with the high-tech celluloid film scanner

While in England, I (Lucas) was lucky enough to visit Pip Laurenson and Libby Ireland at University College London. They have a whole program which tackles the philosophical and practical challenges of conserving media art and performative art. In the photo above, you can see Pip showing me a very fancy celluloid film scanning device, used for transferring 35mm or 16mm films to high-resolution digital video files.

In the same room (I wish I had taken a photo!) there was a pile of sample video formats – ranging from U-Matic, Beta, VHS, mini-DV, DVD etc. One of the big questions for the conservation of moving image work is when and how to transfer from one format to another – and the aesthetic considerations of such transfers.

With conservation decisions about media artworks, there aren’t really any right or wrong answers – much of this is done on a case-by-case basis. A lot depends on the artists’ stated intentions, alongside experienced judgements about the most important things to prioritise about a particular artwork (Louise and I refer to these as the work’s “DNA”).

Conservator Libby Ireland with artwork undergoing conservation

In the conservation lab at UCL, Libby showed me this artwork by pioneering kinetic artist Liliane Lijn. It’s called Cosmic Flares III (1966).

The work consists of a painted timber frame, a perspex panel with a pattern of dots made of small polymer lenses (a bit like contact lenses for your eyes), and a set of incandescent light bulbs set into the frame edge. The light bulbs turn on and off in different combinations to create an ever changing kinetic light sculpture.

The light bulbs were very specifically chosen for the work, which was made in the 1960s. Of course, these bulbs are no longer commercially available, so the challenge for the conservator is to work with the artist (who is still alive), the collector who owns the work, and various lightbulb manufacturers to come up with a solution. Possible solutions could include:

to commission the fabrication of bespoke incandescent lightbulbs to match the originals;
to reverse engineer the bulbs so that they have the same outer shell but with an LED insert;
to start from scratch and remake the whole artwork with new bulbs;
to try out some other solution.

In the end, what decision is made will depend on a range of overlapping factors:

how flexible the artist is in allowing the work to evolve into new technological formats;
how expensive the new lightbulbs are (and how much the artwork’s owner is prepared to stump up);
the quality of light that any replacement bulbs have, relative to the originals;
and what “meaning” those specific bulbs had in the original work.

There are a lot of factors and the solution is always going to be an experiment, and an opportunity for learning.

While we (Pip, Libby, and I) were talking, we reflected on the fact that the practice-based research processes underpinning conservation are dialogical – they involve a lot of conversations, and these conversations can generate fascinating stories which, if shared with an audience, can enrich our experience of the work. That’s why it’s great that Pip and Libby are so diligent in publishing the stories of their work in collecting and conserving new media and performance art. You can see some of their articles here and here.

Proposition for the museum acquisition of Horror Film 1

Museums find it difficult to collect works of media and performance art, compared with traditional art objects like paintings, drawings, and sculpture. This makes sense. A media artwork might consist of a combination of software and hardware, as well as data-storage components (digital files, audio tapes, celluloid films, etc) all of which can be volatile – they decay, software goes out of date, etc.

And performative works are often made to be experienced “live” – they don’t exist as durable objects. So collecting media and live art is tricky. But it should be done! If not, museums are not honouring their responsibility to store and transmit significant cultural works into the future.

I (Lucas) have always struggled with the poor historicisation of conceptual and performance art. It’s difficult for younger generations of artists to access and build upon the work of our predecessors if we never get to experience those works for ourselves. So I believe it behooves museums to put in the effort, and skill up their staff on the best ways to collect and care for ephemeral / experience-based art.
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Making connections in France and England

I (Lucas) am on a trip to Europe, mainly for family reasons. While I’m here, I decided to take the opportunity to visit some folks TLC has been working with for a while.

This is Raja Appuswamy, a data scientist who’s been leading the “synthetic DNA” component of our collaboration. Raja lives in the south of France, and it so happened that my family was passing close to his town, so we met up for a gelato in Nice.

Raja and Lucas meet in Nice

In this photo, Raja hands over a plastic vial containing four tiny stainless steel capsules of synthetic DNA. The DNA in these capsules houses a prototype version of our Horror Film 1 Users Manual.

four tiny stainless steel capsules

The proposition is this: synthetic DNA can store vast amounts of data, without loss or degradation, at room temperature, for 1000 years. For this reason, Raja argues, synthetic DNA may be a good candidate for archiving items of cultural significance. It’s early days for this technology – using synthetic DNA is still too expensive to be properly useful – so really, our collaboration thus far stands as a ‘proof of concept’ and a provocation.

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Vale Malcolm Le Grice (1940-2024)

We, Lucas and I, are so saddened by the passing of Malcolm Le Grice. Lucas and Malcolm first met in 2003. Reconnecting in Sydney in 2010, Malcolm told Lucas he felt it was time ‘hang up his boots’ on performing Horror Film 1. Since then, we’ve been in intermittent contact with Malcolm, lots in the past couple of years.

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Documentation from UK Le Grice exhibition

Recently we had the pleasure to contribute to the DNA:AND exhibition at Velarde Gallery in England. The gallery has kindly sent a few photos for our records.

Here is the media release about TLC’s work for the exhibition.
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