Line Describing A Cone

Dr.Kreul's Avant-Guard Cinema class screened Anthony McCall's A Line Describing A Cone (1973) last Monday. The film portrays a dot that transforms into a complete circle over a 30 minute period. Normally this transformation would not be very exciting or interesting but the way that it was screened brought new life to the otherwise boring film. The room was filled with smoke and the film was projected onto the the smoke creating a 3 dimensional image. The result was an incredible experience.

As the circle formed, the developing cone in the smoke created a presence in the room that had form and a weight. The audience was encouraged to interact with the forming cone. The cone's side could be touched and I almost expected to feel the light. It was awesome to stand at the end of the projection and look toward the projector. It felt like you were being enveloped in this surreal blanket. As smoke would billow past the light, people would bat the smoke to create new patterns and enjoy the waves that crashed against the light. I'm not sure that I've ever seen that many people in a film audience laughing and playing with the film.




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