13 April 2024: Side-Splitting introduced by William English at Close-Up
Side-Splitting: ironic humour, sometimes wry, bordering on the sardonic, with distressed clowns, derelict funfairs and smoking promoted as pleasure with dire consequences. An off-piste revue curated by William English accompanied by a post-A.I. narcissistic clown/photographer.
Don’t Smoke That Cigarette
Kenneth Anger, 1999, 45 min
A collaged film composed of reappropriated cigarette advertisements, mostly culled from a film entitled Smoke That Cigarette! from 1988. Takes a side-swipe at tobacco culture. Known to be Anger’s longest film and seldom screened. “I’ve invented something called hypno-video. Suppose you have a hang-up, you bite your nails and you want to get over it. You would have a hypno-video to stop biting your nails. This is Don’t Smoke That Cigarette” – Kenneth Anger
Side-Splitting
William English, 2023, 10 min
A split-screen film composed of discrete films originally intended to be screened separately; Dam, and Untitled 1988 were both screened in Toronto as part of Rose Lowder’s thematic screening at the International Experimental Film Congress in 1989. “I continued to make some single shot films using a Beaulieu with an electric motor which allowed the entire 100 feet to be exposed without interruption. Untitled 1988 was shot on a clockwork Bolex and therefore consists of several shots. The laughing clown footage was screened as a one-minute version entitled HAH on BBC2’s Late Show. The dam is in Rhayader, Wales. The cranes, decorated with Christmas lights, were in Broadgate, London. The dilapidated roller coaster was in Weymouth, Dorset, as was the distressed clown. The bouncy castle was on a beach in Aberystwyth. The foghorn is on Portland Bill. The film has been screened as 16mm Kodachrome reels with live accompaniment on cassette tape through a large wooden horn which produced a distinctive timbre suited to the sound of the foghorn.” – William English
Sidewinders
Daniel Wilson, 2007, 17 min
A palimpsest of unusual and inadvisable activities shot and edited directly on DV tape, afforded limited narrative coherence by its soundtracking. Originally anonymously distributed on DVD-R, randomly dropped in public places for people to find.
La Palette
Sandra Cross, 2024, 14 min
Two cooks are observed in a tiny kitchen in Paris. From the series ‘What Did You Eat Today?’
Amsterdam
Sandra Cross, 2024, 15 min
Jacques Brel performs his song “Amsterdam” followed by a dialogue with William English in which he remembers his time at the Five Flies restaurant and his encounter with the owner, Nicolaas Kroese. From the series ‘What Did You Eat Today?’
Collages taken from a larger project,’Ex Post Facto’ shown from May 2023 in the windows of a shop once owned by my partner, William English’s Father, Jack. In addition, William’s collages (seen in the Granby Street window) are taken from his book, ‘Perfect Binding’ made in Leicester.
