Australian Centre for the Moving Image
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The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, or ACMI, is dedicated to the moving image in all its forms (much like the Museum of the Moving Image in New York). It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, across four levels of the Alfred Deakin Building. ACMI is a state-of-the-art facility purpose-built for the preservation, exhibition and promotion of Victorian, Australian and International screen content.
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[edit] Attractions
[edit] Cinemas
ACMI has two main cinemas that are equipped to play every film, video and digital video format, with the most extensive projection facilities in the southern hemisphere. THX certified sound systems allow high quality attention to acoustics.
[edit] Programs
ACMI Cinemas present regular weekly and monthly programs:
- Freaky Fridays Late night cult cinema every Friday.
- Australian Perspectives Contemporary Australian filmmaking framed against a backdrop of archival classics and special guest presentations. Every Saturday at 4pm.
- Seniors’ Cinema Ongoing program of quality films for discerning audiences
- Kids Flicks Regular Sunday Club & School holiday program of budget movies for kids
- First Look Exclusive monthly screenings of superb new films and restored classics.
- Cinémathèque Double feature every Wednesday night of rare and imported prints.
ACMI also regularly profiles highly acclaimed actors, directors, writers, cinematographers, and film genres through its ‘Focus On’ seasons. Highlights have included seasons on Stanley Kubrick, Jim Jarmusch, Robert De Niro and David Cronenberg. Genres have included Focus on Gypsies and for the release of King Kong, Focus on Monsters.
ACMI undertakes partnerships with a variety of film festivals; Melbourne International Film Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Festival of German Films, Little Big Shots, Melbourne International Animation Festival, Resfest and more.
[edit] Screen Worlds
Open from 18 September 2009, Screen Worlds is a permanent exhibition exploring all aspects of the moving image using objects, footage and artistic installations. It contains the Kids Space and Games Lab.
[edit] Gallery 1
The screen gallery, recently re-named Gallery 1 in anticipation of the opening of a new exhibition space, was built along the entire length of what was previously Princes Bridge railway station. It is a subterraenean gallery for experimentation with the moving image. Video art, installations, interactives, sound art, net art and screen related objects are all regularly exhibited in this space.
[edit] Exhibitions
ACMI is currently hosting an exhibition on New Zealand Artist Len Lye in collaboration with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and with the support of the Len Lye Foundation and the New Zealand Film Archive. The exhibition runs from 16 July 2009 until 11 October 2009. It will be followed by the exhibition "Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood" from 12 November 2009. [1]
Gallery 1 opened (as the Screen Gallery) on 26 October 2002 with two exhibitions. Deep Space: Sensation & Immersion was a co-presentation with the Art Gallery of New South Wales where it was called "Space Odysseys: Sensation & Immersion". It included moving image artworks that explore space, light, time and the journey. "Deep Space: Sensation & Immersion" closed on 27 January 2003.[2]
The second of the exhibitions that opened ACMI was called Ngarinyin Pathways Dulwan. It was a part of the Pathway Project of the Ngarinyin elders. It shared the gallery space with all other exhibitions until it closed on 31 August 2003.
From March 2003 until October 2005, all exhibitions in the gallery were made up of moving image artworks and curated in house. Remembrance + the Moving Image, curated by Ross Gibson, was exhibited in two halves. "Persistence of Vision" ran from 21 March until 25 May 2003 and "Reverberation" from 27 June to 31 August 2003. [3]
ACMI's 2003-4 Transfigure exhibition was praised by renowned cultural critic and journalist Ashley Crawford as 'one of the most ambitious—and successful—new media exhibitions Australia has ever hosted'. Alessio Cavallaro curated Transfigure to show "Perception, body, space & landscape transformed by the moving image." [4] Transfigure featured the groundbreaking immersive virtual environments Ephémère and Osmose, large-scale projections, video and computer animations, and new media art by 15 leading artists from 6 countries.
In 2004, ACMI collaborated with the National Gallery of Victoria putting on concurrent exhibitions of modern Australian art under the banner 2004 Australian Culture Now. ACMI's exhibition, curated by Alexie Glass, focused on moving image works and ran from 8 June to 12 September 2004. [5]
SenseSurround was an exhibition of immersive environments curated by Alessio Cavallaro. It ran from 7 October to 7 November 2004, and included a work by Granular Synthesis (Modell 5) that ran only during ticketed performances. [6]
ACMI won Best Poster and Best Motion Graphics categories in the 2006 Museums Australia Media and Publication Design Awards for the White Noise exhibition identity. The exhibition was held in 2005 and nominated by UK’s Frieze magazine as one of the best Australian exhibitions of the year. White Noise was dedicated to the contemporary revival of interest in abstraction by digital artists featuring large-scale installations by internationally renowned artists.
Federation Square was the main venue for Festival Melbourne 2006 (the art festival surrounding the 2006 Commonwealth Games). ACMI and NGV worked in collaboration to produce 2006 Contemporary Commonwealth showing at ACMI and the Ian Potter Gallery. The exhibition explored global connections via cutting-edge work by twenty-two artists from across the Commonwealth.
From November 2005 to January 2006, ACMI showcased Stanley Kubrick: Inside the Mind of a Visionary Filmmaker, also shown in Berlin & Frankfurt. The exhibition featured over 1000 objects from Kubrick’s archives, including props, costumes and models from all of his films, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. It also featured guest speakers such as Malcolm McDowell and Christiane Kubrick.
The 2006-7 summer exhibition was Eyes, Lies and Illusions and in winter 2006 ACMI showcased TV50 in celebration of 50 years of television in Australia. TV50 was packed with classic clips and memorabilia and featured the world's largest wall of televisions with 750 in total.
As part of Melbourne Winter Masterpieces 2007, ACMI exhibited Pixar: 20 Years of Animation the world's largest exhibition dedicated to the art of animation that came from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and made its only Australian appearance at ACMI.
In March 2008, ACMI showed Game On from the Barbican Gallery in London. The exhibition tracks the development of videogames from the first computer game to arcade-era hits and the very latest from today's billion dollar industry.
ACMI's gallery housed Replay Christian Marclay the first ever exhibition to be devoted to Marclay's video work. The exhibition was conceived by the Cité de la musique and brings Marclay's mix of avante garde edge and pop culture cool to ACMI's Screen Gallery.
[edit] Gallery 2
Open from 18 September 2009, Gallery 2 is a smaller flexible gallery than Gallery 1. Its opening exhibition is Hollywood Remix, featuring moving image works by Peter Tscherkassky, Martin Arnold and Virgil Widrich.
[edit] Australian Mediatheque
Australian Mediatheque is a space with multiple screening stations with access to works from ACMI and the National Film and Sound Archive.
[edit] Studio 1
The Screen Pit is a production and educational amphitheatre which can accommodate everything from multimedia performances to television broadcasts, and is equipped with video projection, video conferencing, web casting and online facilities.
[edit] Studio 2
ACMI also houses a digital studio for hands-on workshops and production programs. Participants can access the technology, and develop the skills, to produce their own moving image work.
[edit] Video Garden
Open from 18 September 2009, the Video Garden is an outdoor gallery that leads people from the Flinders Street side of the building to the main entrance. Its opening exhibition is Random Encounters, featuring Melbourne artists Lycette Bros., Benjamin Ducroz, Jean Poole and Tamsin Sharp.
[edit] ACMI Shop
The ACMI Shop, located on the entry level next to the Box Office, stocks exhibition catalogues, books, CDs, DVDs, games, toys, cards and gifts.
[edit] Former attractions
[edit] Memory Grid
The Memory Grid was a display allowing access to over 100 hours of film that were been recorded by ordinary Australians, independent filmmakers, students, community-based practitioners and participants in ACMI hands-on production workshops. Much of the content in the Memory Grid had either never been displayed outside, or had been displayed only once on community television. Further, the Memory Grid contained a large collection of animated and interactive works, and actively accepted work from the public for display.
[edit] Games Lab
The Games Lab was ACMI's display area for interactive computer and video games. It celebrated the past, present and future of games, looking deeper to promote this popular form of the moving image as a fascinating reflection of our culture.
In 2003, ACMI commissioned Selectparks to produce an interactive game-based, site specific installation called AcmiPark, which was exhibited in the Games Lab. AcmiPark replicates and abstracts the real world architecture of Federation Square. It also houses highly innovative mechanisms for interactive, multiplayer sound and musical composition.
The Games Lab exhibited the Best of the Independent Games Festival for 2005, 2006 & 2007. In early 2007 Hits of the 80s profiled Melbourne's Beam Software and the secret history of Australia's place in the rise and rise of the videogame. In 2005 an exhibition was dedicated to Sonic the Hedgehog called Sonic the Hedgehog: Icon of our Times.
The Games Lab is currently being incorporated into the new permanent exhibition space.
[edit] Notes
- ^ acmi (2009-07-15). "Easy Rider 40th anniversary celebration at ACMI". Press release. http://www.acmi.net.au/A1D9671040054819BC5BE1EEA0E50DEB.htm?bkTxt=more%20media%20releases. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
- ^ Lynn, Victoria (ed) (2001), Deep Space: Sensation & Immersion, the Art Gallery of NSW, ISBN 0 7347 6321 2
- ^ Gibson, Ross (ed) (2003), Rememberance + the Moving Image, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, ISBN 1 920805 01 X
- ^ "What's On: February - March 2004", ACMI, 2004
- ^ 2004, National Gallery of Victoria, 2004, ISBN 0 7241 0246 9
- ^ "What's On: October - November 2004 Event Calendar", ACMI, 2004
[edit] References
"What's On Aug-Sep 2009", ACMI, 2009
[edit] External links
- Official ACMI website
- ACMI Cinema Archive
- 2006 Contemporary Commonwealth website
- ACMI Cinemas MySpace
- ACMI on YouTube
- ACMI on Flickr
- ACMI on Facebook
- ACMI on Artabase
- Australian Centre for the Moving Image is at 37°49′03″S 144°58′07″E / 37.8176241°S 144.9685907°ECoordinates: 37°49′03″S 144°58′07″E / 37.8176241°S 144.9685907°E
