Automata Theater

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Ben Hagari
works about

Title

Automata Theater

Metadata

2023, mixed media installation including video projection, audio painted wood, carpet, 6:23 minutes, 114 x 86 1/2 x 82 1/2 inches (290 x 220 x 210 cm)

Synopsis

Based on the movable books of Lothar Meggendorfer (1847-1925), this film takes an extreme close-up look at the mechanisms, characters and drawings of Meggendorfer’s books, where tabs are pulled to create hand-made moving images. The characters – taken from various books and divorced from their original context – are accompanied by a soundtrack composed and performed using toys and household objects.

Credits

Directed and edited by Ben Hagari

Music and Sound: Matt Bauder

Cinematography: Boaz Freund

Gaffer: Atsushi Takaoka

Filmed at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University with the support of Timothy Young, curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts

Appearances

January 14 - June 17, 2023
On Point
Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art

Installation view, The Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art
photo: Daniel Hanoch

photo: Yoram Aschheim

Lothar Meggendorfer (1847–1925), Lustiges Automaten-Theater: ein Ziehbilderbuch (Funny Automata Theater: A Picture Book), ca. 1891