Mixing It Up

When we think of a video installation or cinema in contemporary arts today we often think of grandioso projections on a large scale. We become focused on the large images and forget about the in between part of the process and production--the machine. Many video artists take images and project them onto walls making the image larger, taking over a space. Do images have to be large to ensure that they will be the main focus? Few artists have tried projection on a small scale; however, I came across an artist from Canada who has done some unique work working with the idea of the projector a.k.a the illusory machine, and his approach with scale, surfaces, and the photograph.

Wyn Geleynse’s uses antique projectors as a part of his installation. Geleynse’s intimate scale of projection invites the viewers to look at his work with close examination. In reviewing the book, Wyn Geleynse: Four Filmworks, which is a retrospection of his exhibition at the art gallery of Windsor in 1990, I became delighted to have fell upon such a wonderful and different artist. In the Geleynse book, curator Grant Arnold writes, “His work maintains a clear sense of attachment to the process of production. The material substance of film and the mechanics of projection are incorporated in each installation and are linked directly to the image itself.”

Geleynse's fascination with the process and mechanics of the projector dates back to societies' historical fascination with the illusion such as the Lumiere brother’s first films, the phantasmagoria, or magic lantern. Geleynse works has a sort of anti-discipline approach towards contemporary arts exemplifying the traditions of the 19th century. “The fetishization of photographs of nostalgic and sentimental value is explored with a critical, questioning sensibility. Paradoxically Geleynse's film installation pays homage to the rosy appeal of vintage nostalgia.” said Mercer Union, a Centre for Contemporary Visual Art, on his film installation in 1986.

What I love about his work is the small scale and the translucent dimensionality, but also for the bridge between photographic and cinematic qualities. The way in which he projects his imagery is magical and fascinating. Geleynse projects his images through tiny glass blocks, small vintage picture frames on a shelf which sits on a wall, or through a tiny glass house, with a ghost-like illusion of a woman paddling the back of man sitting on a chair. These are just a few examples. You would have to see more picturees and see his work in person to fully appreciate the scope of his talents. To physically interact with the audience his displays are set up so the viewer has turn go through the process of switching on the clanking old film projectors. Although his fascination is scientifically-based in regards to his interest about the mechanics of the machine and light, his work also transends a introspection of himself through old films of his child hood, or found footage that reminds him of a memory he once had. The beautiful displays of his installations provide a magical experience, which is open to engagement for the viewer.

Gelyense recently had a 25-year retrospective called, A Man Trying to Explain His Pictures, at Museum London, Ontario, Canada this past year. Review by Matt McIntyre.