25 Jul – 29 Nov 2015 Projection Series #1 Projection Series 1: Len Lye’s Colour Box 25 July – 29 November 2015 Daily,Projection 1pm Series 1: Len Lye’s Colour Box Len Lye’s Colour Box Running25 July –time: 29 November 51 minutes 2015 Daily,Projection 1pm Series 1: Len Lye’s Colour Box RunningLen25 July Lye Curator:–time: 29 November 51 minutesPaul 2015Brobbel AssistantDaily, 1pm Len Lye Curator: Sarah Wall RunningLen Lye Curator:time: 51 minutesPaul Brobbel AssistantImages: Unless Len Lye otherwise Curator: stated Sarah allWall material courtesyLen Lye Curator: of the Len Paul Lye Brobbel Foundation and the Govett-BrewsterAssistantImages: Unless Len Lye otherwise Art Curator: Gallery, stated Sarah from allWall material material madecourtesy and preservedof the Len by Lye The Foundation New Zealand and the ArchiveGovett-BrewsterImages: ofUnless Film, otherwise ArtTelevision Gallery, stated and from Soundall material material Ngā Taongamadecourtesy and Whitiāhua preservedof the Len Me by LyeNgā The FoundationTaonga New Zealand Kōrero. and the ArchiveGovett-Brewster of Film, ArtTelevision Gallery, and from Sound material Ngā TaongaPrinter:made and Whitiāhua preserved Me by Ngā The Taonga New Zealand Kōrero. 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ISBN:Paperstock: 978-0-908848-80-5 Typeface:Printer: Color Cry All Souls Carnival ISBN:PublishedPaperstock: 978-0-908848-80-5 in association with the Projection SeriesTypeface: Len Lye’s Colour Box, 2015. 1952-3Color Cry 1957All Souls Carnival ISBN:Published 978-0-908848-80-5 in association with the Projection Series© 2015 Govett-BrewsterLen Lye’s Colour ArtBox, Gallery, 2015. 1952-33Color min, 16mm Cry Kodachrome, sound 195716min,All Souls 16mm colour, Carnival sound thePublished artist, in writers association and contributors. with the Projection Series© 2015 Govett-BrewsterLen Lye’s Colour ArtBox, Gallery, 2015. 3Lye min, returned 16mm Kodachrome, to experimental sound filmmaking 16min,His last 16mmcolour colour, film, Allsound Souls Carnival was theApart artist,from any fair writers dealing forand the contributors. purposes of private 1952-3 1957 study, research, criticism, or review as permitted under in the 1950s with Color Cry. Made using the created by Lye to accompany music by ©the 2015 Copyright Govett-Brewster Act, no part of this Art catalogue Gallery, may be 3Lye min, returned 16mm Kodachrome, to experimental sound filmmaking 16min,His last 16mmcolour colour, film, Allsound Souls Carnival was theApartreproduced artist,from anywithout fair writers thedealing prior for andpermission the contributors. purposes of the of publisher.private “rayogram” technique of placing objects Henry Brant. Screened with live music at the study, research, criticism, or review as permitted under in the 1950s with Color Cry. 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While a recording ofthe the cries blues of asong slave The fleeing Fox Chase, a lynch played mob. himself,of the images the Museum was intentionally of Modern leftArt, free. and the vocal hollers, which Lye interpreted as of Brant’s music was added, the sequence on the harmonica and include his signature New Zealand Film Archive. While a recording the cries of a slave fleeing a lynch mob. of the images was intentionally left free. vocal hollers, which Lye interpreted as of Brant’s music was added, the sequence the cries of a slave fleeing a lynch mob. of the images was intentionally left free. Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material made available by the Museum of Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From Modern Art, New York and preserved by Ngā material preserved and made available CourtesyTaonga Sound of the & Vision. Len Lye DigitalFoundation. version From by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. materialcourtesy madeof the available Govett-Brewster by the Museum Art Gallery of govettbrewster.com Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From Modern Art, New York and preserved by Ngā material preserved and made available CourtesyTaonga Sound of the & Vision. Len Lye DigitalFoundation. version From by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. materialcourtesy madeof the available Govett-Brewster by the Museum Art Gallery of govettbrewster.com Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From Modern Art, New York and preserved by Ngā govettbrewster.commaterial preserved and made available Taonga Sound & Vision. Digital version by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. courtesy of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery govettbrewster.com P / 14 Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Projection Series P / 15 P / 14 Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Projection Series P / 15 P / 14 Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Projection Series P / 15 The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre launches a brand new state-of-the-art 62-seat cinema, for audiences to experience the films of Len Lye and local and international cinema. The cinema welcomes you to see historical experimental film, contemporary artist’s moving image and regular film festival programming. At the heart of the Len Lye Centre’s cinema programme is the return of the Govett-Brewster’s Projection Series, our quarterly film programme surveying the landscape of historical and contemporary fine art filmmaking. Len Lye’s Colour Box marks the first projection series, presenting nine colourful, musical and technically thrilling short films by Len Lye – our man in the world of experimental film. Len Lye on film set, 1937. Unknown photographer Len Lye Foundation Collection, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Len Lye Centre P / 2 Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Projection Series P / 3 established specially so that it could receive an award. Dubbed by the Len Lye’s British press as “the English Disney”,4 another of Lye’s “phantasmagoric colour offerings”,5 Colour Flight (1938), drew comparisons with the Colour Box celebrated animation studios (then the benchmark for colour animation) with Time magazine enthusiastically hailing it “as art, as entertainment, and as the freshest stuff of its kind since Disney arrived”. 6 Lye first became familiar with the possibilities of “direct” film in the 1920s in Sydney. Working at Filmads Ltd., a company producing animated advertisements, Lye experimented with scratching lines onto black film strips and projecting the images on screen.7 His introduction to musician Jack Ellitt in Sydney in particular proved to be a significant one, with Ellitt Len Lye’s films must be seen to be believed: an exquisite and subtle later composing and editing music for many of Lye’s films. It was in London, range of vibrating color; an enchanting and original synchronization however, where Lye established himself as an experimental filmmaker. of visual images and gay music; a brilliant interweaving of live Britain’s first film society was founded just one year before his arrival in action shots, special photographic effects such as photomontage, 1926, and here Lye saw his first experimental films by the likes of Oscar solarisation and silhouette, and lettering, drawing,