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Contemporary Art Society:

Twixt Two Worlds 16 April 2014 – 22 June 2014

Large print labels and interpretation

Gallery 7

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Contemporary Art Society: Twixt Two Worlds

Cinema history unfolds in this exhibition which captures the pivotal moment when still images evolved into moving images.

The display - which takes its title from a book about the famous medium William Eglinton - considers the relationship between photography and cinema in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as still images became animated and opened the door to film. Inspired by John and William Barnes’ collection of early moving image apparatus and documentation amassed since the 1930s and now held at the Royal Pavilion, Museums & Libraries, Brighton and Hove, this shift is explored through objects, photographs and films. The exhibition includes magic lanterns and painted glass slides, plus rarely-seen films and photographs from pioneers such as William Friese-Greene, Eadweard Muybridge and George Albert Smith.

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Alongside these influential figures are works by contemporary artists including Susan Hiller, Steven Pippin and Saskia Olde Wolbers (whose film Trailer was gifted by the Contemporary Art Society to the South London Gallery in 2005). They revisit the history and techniques of early motion pictures through formal associations and references to Victorian popular culture. Twixt Two Worlds is an imaginative display drawn from the collections of Contemporary Art Society member museums across the south of England and is part of the Whitechapel Gallery’s programme opening up public and private collections for everyone. This is the fourth and final exhibition in a year-long series of displays exploring the theme of art and philanthropy. It is conceived in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Society by Arts Council-funded Curatorial Fellow Gaia Tedone, supported by the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton and Hove. For over 100 years, the Contemporary Art Society has encouraged an appreciation and understanding of contemporary art by donating works to museums and public galleries across the UK.

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The display will tour to Towner, Eastbourne from 10 October 2014 – 5 January 2015. Continued on next page A fully-illustrated publication, The Best is Not Too Good For You: New Approaches to Public Collections in England is published on the occasion of this partnership and is available from the bookshop. To find out more about talks and events throughout the summer pick up a leaflet or visit whitechapelgallery.org

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First Wall

William Fox Talbot Three Graces c. 1840-1849 Photographic print on paper/Calotype negative Three Sculptural Objects date unknown Photograph on paper The British Library

Mary Burchett Spirit Photographs (man in sheet and raised arm) c. 1880’s Photographic print mounted on Gold Edged card

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William Eglinton Spirit Photograph (Ada) c.1900 Photographic print mounted on card. Donated anonymously to Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Fluid Traces and Circular Visions

In the 1860s, Spirit Photography established itself as a widespread practice and this display includes a rare group of photographs taken by the famous medium William Eglinton (1857–1933) and his enigmatic accomplice Mary Burchett. Each print bears a handwritten note on the reverse of the mount, describing the particular circumstances under which each image was produced, or the name of the spirit that Eglinton used to invoke during his séances.

Continued on next page

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A century later, these prints mysteriously ended up in the Brighton and Hove Museum Collections, offering an interesting link to the work of British film inventor George Albert Smith documented in the Barnes Brothers Collection.

With a background as a hypnotist, mesmerist and magic lanternist, Smith shared with Eglinton a vivid engagement with the ‘other side’, producing the first manifestation of the ghost illusion in British cinema.

William Friese-Greene Self-portrait c. 1890 Silver print National Media Museum, Bradford

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John Arthur Roebuck Rudge Two prints from copy negatives of glass positive replica of Rudge’s phantascope image c. 1880’s Photographic prints National Media Museum, Bradford

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Second Wall

The Sculptor’s Dream The Magician’s Cauldron The Soldier’s Dream Train Leaving the Station Late 19th century Animated magic lantern slides (digitised version) National Cinema Museum Collection, Turin

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The Double Life of the Magic Lantern

Designed by Dutch inventor Christiaan Huygens in the middle of the 17th century, this optical device uses a concave mirror at the back of a light source to direct the light through a small rectangular sheet of glass, the lantern slide, onto a lens at its front.

The term ‘magic lantern’ suggests the apparatus’ early association with both the worlds of science and magic. In early magic shows, the lantern was usually hidden from the public, enabling conjurers to perform their tricks through mobile back projections. With the discovery of the oxy-hydrogen limelight in the 19th century, front projections became possible and the lantern developed into a popular medium of visual information, delivering lectures with moral, religious or propaganda content.

The subsequent diffusion of the biunial (two lens) and triunial (three lens) lanterns recreated the illusion of movement, either by fading between images using dissolving views slides, or by superimposing two slides, one on top of the other.

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Eadweard Muybridge An Electro-photographic investigation of consecutive phases of animal movements, plate 643, "Pandora" jumping a hurdle, bareback, clearing and landing; rider nude. 1872 - 1888 Wallpaper frieze reproduction Courtesy of Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove

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Susan Hiller The Fight 2007 Photo-etching and aquatint on copperplate with Hahnemühle Etching paper Edition of 25 Continued on next page Commissioned by Matt's Gallery for E3 4RR Print Portfolio Matt's Gallery, London

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Third Wall

Albert Londe Suggestions par les sens dans la periode cataleptique du grand hypnotisme 1891 Reproduction from the book Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpêtriêre, 1890 Wellcome Library, London

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Bodily Expressions

By the second half of the 19th century the focus in photography shifted from the fixing of the image to fixing an instant of time through the use of shorter exposures. The experiments with chronophotography of the Anglo-American photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904) and French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey (1830–1904) opened up a new approach to the visualisation of animal and human movement that had a long-lasting impact. Such studies found a concrete application in the medical field, and specifically in the practice of psychiatric photography. Albert Londe (1858–1917) was a photographer who worked at the Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, under the supervision of the clinician Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–93) and conducted extensive photographic studies on his hysterical patients.

Albert Londe Retraction nevropathique de la paupiere superieure Continued on next page

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Chéne & Longuet Baillements hystériques 1890 Reproductions from the book Nouvelle Iconographie de la Salpêtriêre, 1890 Wellcome Library, London

Alfred Darling Alfred Darling Experimental Cameras c. 1900 Photographic prints on paper Barnes Collection, Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

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When Collecting Makes History Twin brothers John and William Barnes began collecting at the age of 13. Their collection traces the evolution of the moving image from the period film historians refer to as ‘the archaeology’ of cinema, until the pioneering British filmmakers from the south coast identified with the ‘The Brighton School’: Alfred Darling, William Friese-Greene, George Albert Smith and James Williamson, amongst others.

Their years of dedicated research and collecting culminated in a five-volume history of British Cinema written by John Barnes, and the opening ofthe Barnes Brothers Museum of Cinematography in St. Ives, whichh they ran from 1963 for more than 20 years.

The closing of the museum in the 1990s marked the decisive split of the collection: the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin acquired the material related to the archaeology of cinema, while Hove Museum absorbed all the documentation and apparatus belonging to the south coast film makers.

Key works from both collections are brought here for the first time, tracing the Barnes Brothers’ far-reaching journey into cinema history. The display pays homage to their exhaustive approach as researchers and their unique relationship as identical twins.

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Cabinet

Alhambra Theatre 1907 Programme Bioscope Animated Pictures early 20th Century Photograph Georges Sadoul British Creators of Film Technique 1948 Booklet Invitation to the Barnes Brothers for the evening ‘who invented cinema?’ 26th October 1995, reception followed at MoMi. From The Magic Box 1954 film. Postcard. George Albert Smith In the Tunnel, from George Albert Smith’s 1899 film Continued on next page

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Two colour and b/w postcards Barnes Collection, Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove Bill and John Barnes as Children, c 1925 Bill and John Barnes in St Ives, c. 1960’s Copies of original photographs Courtesy Bill Barnes

No image available

George Albert Smith at his desk with film measurer and Urban Bioscope Photograph on paper Barnes Collection, Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove

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George Albert Smith The Corsican Brothers 1898 Postcard Barnes Collection, Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove Brighton Aquarium early 20th Century Postcard Hove Museum & Art Gallery St. Ann’s Wells Garden, Hove early 20th century Illustration Barnes Collection, Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove George Albert Smith Santa Claus Film Frames 1898 Continued on next page

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Black and white copy print of 9 consecutive frames from the film ‘Santa Claus’, 1898 Barnes Collection, Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove

George Albert Smith The X-Ray Fiend 1897 Black and white silent film, 0.44 mins. BFI National Archive George Albert Smith Mary Jane’s Mishap 1903 Black and white silent film, 4.06 mins. BFI National Archive George Albert Smith Two Clowns 1906 Continued on next page

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Digital Reconstruction of one of the first Kinemacolour films, 1.59 mins. James Williamson The Little Match Seller 1902 3.15 mins. BFI National Archive George Albert Smith Santa Claus 1898 Black and white silent film, 1.20 mins. BFI National Archive

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Warwick Trading Company The Artist’s Nightmare 1906 4.12 mins. R.W. Paul Kruger’s Dream of Empire 1900 Digitised version Film Courtesy of the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum R.W. Paul The ‘?’ Motorist 1906 Black and white, silent film. 2.22 mins. BFI National Archive Lumiere Brothers Production Substitutions 1896 Continued on next page

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Digitised version Film Courtesy of the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum William Friese-Greene Kino the Girl in Colour 1920 Digital reconstruction of original film reel Bristol Record Office

James Williamson The Big Swallow 1901 Black and white silent film, 1.08 min BFI National Archive

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Swallowing the Image Contemporary works sit alongside the experiments of the early pioneers drawing formal and conceptual connections with them. While Susan Hiller battles with the iconography of ‘Punch and Judy’ shows associated with traditional English seaside culture, Steven Pippin provocatively substitutes Muybridge’s battery of cameras with the laundromat. The red and green nuances of Saskia Olde Wolbers’ Trailer (2005) make explicit reference to the process of Kinema Colour pioneered by both George Albert Smith and William Friese-Greene.

Reversely, historical works offer precious insights into current debates. The 1901 silent comedy The Big Swallow (A Photographic Contortion) by British film pioneer James Williamson (1855–1933) stands as a metaphor for the relationship between photography and cinema – a relationship based on the conflict between interdependence and separation.

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Fourth Wall

Steven Pippin Walking Naked 1997 6 from a series of 12 black and white photographs Swindon Museum and Art Gallery

Saskia Olde Wolbers Trailer 2005 Single channel video projection, 10 mins London Borough of Southwark on behalf of the South London Gallery. Gifted by the Contemporary Art Society in 2005

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Centre (from front left, clockwise)

William Fox Talbot The Latticed Window Photograph on paper c.1937 copy (original 1835) National Media Museum, Bradford

W.C. Hughes The Art of Projection 1897 Book Barnes Collection, Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove

Biunial Lantern c. 1850 Continued on next page

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Mahogany body and slide stages with lacquer brass fitting Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove

Alfred Darling & Sons Darling ‘Special Effects’ Cine-Camera 1899-1900 Mahogany Barnes Collection, Royal Pavilion Museums, Brighton & Hove Picture Post Magazine 1949 Magazine National Media Museum, Bradford

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John Arthur Roebuck Rudge Replica of Rudge Fantascope Lantern produced by the Science Museum, London 1930 (original 1875) Lantern and set of slides National Media Museum, Bradford Alfred Darling – Biokam

SILENCE There will now be a short interval Our heartiest thanks for a most interesting lecture Curtain border Camera Obscura Colonel Blood set design Continued on next page

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Wooden mounted magic lantern slides Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

T. & H. Doublet, London Improved Phantasmagoria and Dissolving View Lanterns 1860 National Cinema Museum Collection, Turin

Please return large print to the gallery

assistant.