Alex MacKenzie is a media artist working in film, video, light projection and performance. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honours from Carleton University, and has worked with a variety of independent film organizations over the past 15 years including Mainfilm, Pacific Cinematheque, Cineworks, and Doxa. He was the founder and director of The Edison Electric Gallery of
Moving Images, The Blinding Light!! Cinema and the Vancouver Underground Film Festival, and currently works as an independent curator, graphic designer and writer.

Alex will also be the third artist-in-residence to participate in the new blog system! Check back soon for the launch of his blog!

Quick 'n Dirty Movie Action: A Handprocessing Super 8 Film Workshop
*Tuesday March 25 + Wednesday March 26, 6:30 - 10:30 PM (*NEW DATE)
Facilitated by Alex MacKenzie (Open Studio Artist in Residence)
Faucet Media Arts Centre & Struts Gallery
FREE FOR FAUCET + STRUTS MEMBERS ($15 otherwise, or you could purchase a membership for $20 then have all the fun all the time)

Tuesday, March 25 (4 hours)
Skip the lab and process your own black and white cinema film. Participants in the Annual Super 8 Hotel Film Festival who want to process their own images will learn about and participate in the basic chemistry and simple darkroom bucket setup required to transform your roll of film into magical handmade images right before your very eyes. We will discuss process, chemistry, techniques and then get our hands dirty (well, gloves anyways).
NOTE: please wear clothes you aren't too attached to - an old button-up shirt on backwards as a smock is a good idea. We supply the gloves. No prior experience neccessary.

Wednesday, March 26 (4 hours)
Flashes of Light: 16mm Rayogram, Contact Printing and Handmade Emulsion Workshop with Alex MacKenzie
Time to turn the lights off and experiment. This workshop explores the potential of moving image rayograms--the technique whereby objects are placed on the surface of the film, exposed to light, and processed to negative. The workshop will also incorporate contact printing into this process, where images of pre-existing found footage are used as source material, manipulated on the surface of the raw film stock, and exposed to create stunning new images. 16mm film stock will be supplied and a group piece will be created. And finally, the workshop will also introduce the process of creating homemade film emulsion, which, when painted on the surface of clear film stock creates a rudimentary very crafty film stock for contact printing.

NOTE: please bring little objects you might want to place on the film - small objects are more effective: ie: staples, paperclips, lifesavers, washers, screws, bits of nature (flower petals, grass), bits of paper, and anything larger with a pattern (looseweave fabric like burlap, clusters of string, your grandma's old doilies, etc.) Remember - each single image is a little under 16mm wide, so keep that in mind! No prior experience neccessary.

8th Annual Super 8 Hotel Film Festival
Saturday April 5, 8 pm
Hosted by Faucet Media Arts Centre & Struts Gallery, David Gregory and Alex Mackenzie

The 8th Annual Super 8 Hotel Film Festival at Faucet Media Arts Centre will present the films created in the two workshops, in addition Alex MacKenzie will present a special screening of his work.

http://homepage.mac.com/onsuper8/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_8_mm_film