Spirit Messages is a touring programme of six artists’ films curated by the prominent Dublin-based initiative for artists’ moving image aemi. Their annual selection brings together some of the most exciting new moving image work by Irish and international artists. We are delighted that they have included CAST in this year’s tour. Alice Butler from AEMI will introduce the screening and three of the artists featured in the programme – Niall Cullen, Dan Guthrie and Amanda Rice – will be here to speak about their work.
The films in Spirit Messages draw from an eclectic array of sources to reveal an interconnected paranormal world, with references including folk tales, esotericism, poppers, horror films and science fiction. The programme features work by Amanda Rice, Niall Cullen, Ross McClean, Jamie Crewe, Luis Arnias, and Dan Guthrie.
Film information:
Ross McClean, Echo, 2023, 12 mins
An operation 10 years ago left Allister with damaged vocal cords and an obstacle to communication. His unusual solution reminds us that community thrives in surprising places.
Amanda Rice, The Flesh of Language, 2023, 16.5 mins
The Flesh of Language examines humanity’s impact on Earth’s ecosystems through the lenses of two interrelated mechanics of capitalism: extraction and overproduction.
Niall Cullen, The Dog Who Became a Frog, 2023, 6.5 mins
The Dog Who Became a Frog delves into the interconnectedness of our world by exploring the idea that every living thing shares the same energy force.
Jamie Crewe, False Wife 2022, 15 mins
False Wife is a poppers training video, but its material is obscure. Its narrative is drawn from a variety of folk tales in which transformation occurs, and relationships happen. Its footage is scavenged from sources that reflect these themes, reduced to slivers of significant imagery, rubbed together.
Luis Arnías, Terror Has No Shape, 2021, 10 mins
Terror Has No Shape follows a mysterious and grotesque, viscous creature. The film fragments the American horror and sci-fi genres to bring the terror of the lived personal and collective experience of racial trauma to the surface. Through effigy, these horrors materialise and are burned.
Dan Guthrie, Coaley Peak (A Fragment), 2021, 6.5 mins
Dan Guthrie’s idea with Coaley Peak was to make a film about Blackness and belonging in the English countryside, taking a family photo of some of his relatives at the Gloucestershire viewpoint Coaley Peak as a starting point. Whilst making the film, something happened.
Total run time 66.5 mins
Spirit Messages is accompanied by a text commissioned by aemi about the programme. You can read ‘Moth in Relay’ by writer Leah Reynolds here.
