These three films explore the relationship between art and knowledge, theory and lived experience. They take a subversive, magical, surreal approach to dissecting our understanding of the world. The screening will be accompanied by a panel discussion exploring how films and contemporary art draw on the concept of magic in its execution and staging, with panelists including curator Ellie Buttrose, artist Chantal Fraser, and curator Amy-Clare McCarthy.

Kenneth Anger Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969, 12min)
Assembled by Kenneth Anger from scraps of his film Lucifer Rising, this short presents strobing scenes of occult ritualism with a soundtrack by Mick Jagger. Courtesy NFSA.

Ben Rivers and Ben Russell The Rare Event (2018, 48min)
On the surface, The Rare Event is a documentary of a three-day forum, featuring an impressive cast, including Albert Serra, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Étienne Balibar, Timothy Morton, and Jean-Luc Nancy. However, Rivers and Russell have produced a structural analysis of a philosophical discussion in-the-round, with surreal elements, like a wandering ‘green man’, immersive sound, and digital imaging. Courtesy Lux.

James Benning L. Cohen (2018, 48min)
A single take of Oregon farmland captures a solar eclipse, with darkness engulfing the landscape. Relentlessly static imagery is accompanied by the drone of unseen planes. Then the scene is bathed shadow as animals begin to howl. ‘The banal and the breathtaking coexist.’—Erika Balsom.