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30 July 2010
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Abandon Normal Devices

By Chelsea Pech published on Wednesday, 17 March
The Southeast may be the most popular area of the UK, but a new festival aims to put the Northwest back on the creative map. Abandon Normal Devices is a festival of new cinema and digital culture, taking place across multiple cities throughout the year. The most recent leg of the tour is now on in Cumbria and Lancashire, and features jotta member Ellie Harrison's Vending Machine, as well icecream made from clouds and other such abnormal delights.
The Cloud Project, Ellie Harrison's Vending Machine, Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, Simon Faithful's Fake Moon.  (Click any image to enlarge it)

Following a successful launch last September in Liverpool, the Abandon Normal Devices (AND) Festival of New Cinema and Digital Culture has arrived in Cumbria and Pennine Lancashire. Taking place in multiple venues in the area, AND offers space for the creative work of many filmmakers and artists.

The fair boasts its collection of strange, playful and radical works. While the festivals main focus is cinema and media art, the creative works stretch a broad scale of media.

‘The Cloud Project’ sees artists Zoe Papadopoulou and Cartherine Kramer touring the area in a van, serving ice cream created by nanotechnology.  Science and art combined and the dream of making ice cream from clouds was realised when Papadopoulou and Kramer developed a way to alter the composition of clouds to make new and delicious sensory experiences.

jotta artist, Ellie Harrison will display her piece, ‘Vending Machine’ at The Dukes Bar throughout the festival. The modified machine is installed with a computer continually scanning news on the BBC News RSS feed. Snack-hungry customers no longer control this vending machine, as snacks are only released when the recession-related words appear in the BBC headlines.

Visual artist Simon Faithfull will display two of his latest works; 'Fake Moon' will bathe Preston visitors in simulated moonlight, starting at 8 PM on 25 - 26 March, while, 'Recent Findings', a multimedia record of his surroundings, questions, measures and tests his own experience of the world. On display in the Harris Museum and Art Gallery from 27-28 March.

Video artist Geoffrey Alan Rhodes gives viewers playing cards that mash up the films of Rambo live on screen. The installation, titled 'Arambo' combines Augmented Reality techonolgy with cinema and a deck of 52 playing cards for a truly unique and interactive experience.  Rhodes's work will be at the Log Cabin in Grizedale Forest, 2-3 April.

Future AND Festivals will take place in Manchester and Cheshire in October.

See details of Abandon Normal Devices here.
See more of Ellie’s work on her jotta profile.

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