Truth Movements is a short film taken from The Light Surgeons live audio-visual performance True Fictions. It weaves a tangled web of conspiracies theories, divergent views and public oratory from the 5th anniversary of 911 together into a escalating argument about truth.

The film contrasts two points of view, protesters who want to re-investigate 911 and those who oppose their intervention outside the memorial on this national day of morning. The conversation flits from person to person as the exchanges of opinions become increasingly passionate and emotional. A group of US marines berate a crowd who proclaim that 911 was an “inside job”. Their heated exchanges reveal how even contemporary events are fought over and continue to be manipulated for commercial and political motives.

These conflicting opinions are musically scored with a building vibraphone melody, live drums and an Oud solo by Mavrothi Kontanis. This middle eastern instrument points a figure to the US response to these tragic events.Original footage, stills and interviews recorded at ground zero by Christopher Thomas Allen & Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow in 2006.

TRUE FICTIONS is result of a year long digital performance art project produced and directed by Christopher Thomas Allen and commissioned by EMPAC, The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre in Troy, New York.

The project was supported by The Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts.

For more information, video and still images of True Fictions please check: http://www.avfolklore.blogspot.com
More video excerpts from the live performances can be viewed here: http://www.vimeo.com/lightsurgeons

Produced & Directed by Christopher Thomas Allen
Camera & interviews by Christopher Thomas Allen & Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow
Edited by Christopher Thomas Allen , Tim Cowie & James Price
Musical arrangement by Tim Cowie & Mark McRae
Oud by Mavrothi Kontanis
Drums by Brian Fishler

A short documentary film inspired by the track “Sublime 01″ by composer Michael Nyman that combines his music with a philosophical monologue of Joe McGarry, the former the Director of development at homeless charity Arlington House. The film explores our collective sense of home through a visual poem that illustrates Joe’s journey of finding his home within. The audio interview was originally made by Rob Rainbow for the Domestic Archaeology exhibition at the Geffrye Museum.

A Pilgrim Films Production for Channel 4′s 3 Minute Wonders

Festivals:

SEE festival – Brighton Documentary Film Festival – Brighton, UK, 2009
Premiered at the BRITDOC Film Festival in July 2008
onedotzero adventures in motion – BFI, Southbank, London, 2008 – currently touring internationally in 2009
London Short Film Festival, Various Locations around London, UK, 2009
SXSW – South by Southwest, film & music festival, Austin, Texas, USA, 2009

Directed by Chris Allen and Rob Rainbow
Music by Michael Nyman
Producer Andrew Hinton
Edited by Chris Allen at The Light Surgeons
Colorist Michael Mchugh Assistant Producer Helen Omand Executive Producer Maxyne Franklin

With Thanks to:

Bywaters
Tim Cowie
Annie Kwan
The Rio Cinema
Arnie & Wendy Rainbow
Neil Thompson
Felix Wright

“The Living Room” was an art installation commissioned by the Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, London in 2005. The Project drew from a variety of material gathered through systematic research focusing on a selection of 8 homes and their occupants. Presented as a collection of documentary films, audio interviews, photography and print works; this multimedia art exhibition addressed peoples’ individuality through the looking glass of their living spaces.

This installation was later developed and expanded into a larger exhibition entitled “Domestic Archaeology” at the Geffrye Museum in east London in 2006.

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Concept: Chris Allen & Robert Rainbow
Collaborating Artists: Chris Allen, Robert Rainbow, Brede Korsmo, Jude Greenaway and Tim Cowie
Producer Alice Ceresole

DESIGN FOR ELECTRO GLIDE, TOKYO

T-shirts for Japan’s biggest dance music festival, 2005
Designed by Chris Allen & Brede Korsmo

HAPPY  ACCIDENTS

Limted edition set of designs produced at Counterprint sceenprinting workshops
Sold at the V&A design fete in 2003

Designed by Chris Allen & Rob Rainbow
Curated by Scarlet Projects

PRINT WORK

from The Living Room & Domestic Archaeology exhibition, 2004
Designed by Brede Korsmo, Chris Allen & Rob Rainbow

KISS OFF

Artist: Robert Rainbow

SPIRES

Artist: Brede Krosmo

DEAD MAN

Artist: Tim Cowie

Project Director: Christopher Thomas Allen
Producer: Annie Kwan

In December 2006 The Light Surgeons produced and curated a cross-disciplinary art exhibition on the south bank that was commissioned by Nokia Nseries. Articulated was a group show that brought together a cross section of artists from different practices and organizations to transform London’s OXO Barge House with a series of multimedia installations, a cinema space, talks and creative interventions into the surrounding area.

Articulated explored our relationship to space with a collection of commissioned and curated works that engaged with the public through interviews and debate. Each of these works investigated the human condition through the real or imagined boundaries of our everyday lives.

It was a truly unique collaboration which explored the thresholds between public and private space, unraveling a multitude of human stories from London’s cultural metropolis.

ARTICULATED

Exhibition Signage: Millimetre

OBJECTS OF NO FIXED ABODE

Mixed media installation: Pete Codling

I’VE BEEN PLACES I’VE NEVER VISITED

Director: Russel Harris

Live Performance piece which took place in and around the Barge House and along the Southbank.

TRANSIT

Mixed media installation: Christopher Thomas Allen

PROTOCOL

Photographic & Video Installation

Featuring Photography by Chris Allen, Alice Ceresole, Lenka Clayton, Paul O’Connor, Brede Korsmo & James Price
Video Installation By Bilal Main

SINGLE STORY BUILDING

Interactive installation: Blast Theory, created in 2002.

TRUE COLD

Video installation: Blast Theory, created in 2002.

HOMAGE TO THE LOST

Video installation: Brede Korsmo

CITY FOR GRANTED

Video Installation: Tim Cowie

Interviews and field Recordings by Chris Allen, Brede Korsmo, Annie Kwan, James Price & Rob Rainbow
Photography by Chris Allen, Brede Korsmo, Annie Kwan, James Price & Rob Rainbow

CONVERSATION

Video installation: James Price & Lenka Clayton

This installation has also been edited as a film and has toured extensively appearing at international festivals including:
Britdoc, Oxford, July 2007
Hotdocs, Toronto, Canada. PDX, Portland, Oregon, USA, April 2008
Iranian International Documentary Festival, Tehran, October 2008
FLEXfest, Gainsville, Florida, USA, 2009

DIALOG

Mixed media installation: Christopher Thomas Allen

This installation continues to tour art exhibitions internationally:

Out Side The Box, Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester, England, 2007
Media_City Seoul 2008 – the 5th International Media Art Biennale, Seoul, South Korea, 2008
Biennale Cuvee 09, A World Selection Of Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria, 2009

DEBATE

Mixed media installation: Christopher Thomas Allen & James Price

FROM CEREALS COME CIVILISATION

Video installation: Robert Rainbow

FOOD FOR LIVING THINGS

Mixed media installation: Robert Rainbow

CERBERES

Photographic installation: Marion Lefebvre

ARTICULATED LOUNGE

On the top floor of the exhibition there was an interactive lounge space and cinema curated by onedotzero festival. This contained interactive terminals with archive material supplied by the British Film Institute, sound installations by audio artist Scanner, a program of short films shown in a cinema space with additional screening programs from Halloween Society and a series of talks by guest speakers including the writer Ian Sinclair.

Concept: Christopher Thomas Allen, Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow & Annie Kwan
Curator: Christopher Thomas Allen
Producer: Annie Kwan

Domestic Archaeology was a cross-media art project created by The Light Surgeons that was exhibited at the Geffrye Museum in East London in 2006. The work on show was developed through a process of audio-visual journalism that explores the issues surrounding identity through the study of Londoners and their rich mixture of living spaces.

The project excavated personal stories, memories, objects and meanings that were re-assembled as multimedia installations, offering a reflection on the changing condition of domestic space as well as our more psychological boundaries associated with them.

This exhibition has been documented as a limited addition dual layer DVD, including a set of six postcards of artwork from the exhibition. Currently available from Magma books and the BFI store South Bank, London.

Collaborating Artists: Christopher Thomas Allen, Brede Korsmo, Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow & Tim Cowie
Original Concept: Christopher Thomas Allen & Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow
Production Director: Christopher Thomas Allen
Producer & research: Annie Kwan
Production Assistant: Rouzbeh Nafarieh
Animation: Tim Cowie
Exhibition Design: Millimetre
Concrete Wallpaper: Eric Barret
Workshops: Counterproductions
Smells: The Aroma Company
Print Artwork: IGMA & C3
Website design: Philip O’Dwyer

True Fictions is the result of a year long digital performance art project, produced and directed by Christopher Thomas Allen and commissioned by EMPAC, The Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre in Troy, New York.

It is a live audio visual spectacle that fuses documentary film making, music, animation and motion graphics with cutting edge digital performance tools. A stunning collage of music and live cinema which explores the themes of truth and myth through a multitude of American and Native American voices; with a original musical score created through the collaborations of 25 New York based musicians and vocal artists.

The final performance was completed and presented in September 2007 at EMPAC and has gone on to tour other media & arts festivals internationally.

For more back ground information about how this project was devloped please visit: http://www.avfolklore.blogspot.com
For more video excerpts from the project please visit: http://vimeo.com/channels/truefictions

The following audio tracks and stills are taken from various international live performances:

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True Fictions is performed by:

Christopher Allen (audio & video)
Tim Cowie (audio & video) Malcom Litson (audio & analogue operations)
Jude Greenaway (audio)
Mark McRae (live guitars & keys)
Matt Waterfield (lighting & technical support)

Touring:

The Armour, EMPAC, Troy, New York, USA, September, 2007
The Great Hall, Urban Screens Festival, Manchester, UK, October, 2007
Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Milano, Italy, November, 2007
ZEMOS98 Festival, Seville, Spain, March, 2008
IMAX Cinema, onedotzero festival, BFI Southbank, London, November, 2008
Brighton Pavilion, Loop Festival, Brighton, July, 2009
Waterfront, TRANS Festival, Captalist Arts, Belfast, July, 2009
Rotuda3, HITEC, Mirowave Festival, Hong-Kong, November, 2009
The Others, Hackney Film Festival, London, September 2010
Freeform Festival, Warsaw, Poland, October, 2010

Project Produced & Directed by Christopher Thomas Allen

Cinematography: Christopher Thomas Allen & Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow
Photography:Christopher Thomas Allen, Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow & Helen Omand
Edited: Christopher Thomas Allen, James Price & Tim Cowie
Animation: Martin Banks, Tim Cowie & Blinkinlab
Audio Interviews: Christopher Thomas Allen, Robert Pyecroft-Rainbow & Jo Williamson
Assistant Producer: Annie Kwan
NYC Production Co-ordination: Sarah Pace
Research & location Production: Helen Omand
Studio Sound Recording & Initial Arrangements: Ben Allen
Music Production & Arrangements: Tim Cowie
Addition Audio Production: Malcom Litson, Mark McRae & Jude Greenaway

Special thanks to:

The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, Salamanca
The Ronathahonni Cultural Center, Cornwall Island, Ontario
Nichols Meat Processing, Altamont, NY
David Lublin & Ray Cutler at VIDVOX
Kathleen Forde, Jason Steven Murphy and all the staff at EMPAC

An EMPAC Commission supported by The Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts NY

New York Musical Contributors:

This performance was specially created for the media mix tent at The Big Chill Festival in 2005. consisting of special medicinal blend of music and visuals punctuated with a series of spoken word samples taken from various self help audio books.

The audio and video content was mixed live using a set of Pioneer DVJ decks accompanied by a sequence of still images on slides and some additional 16mm film loops. The last few performances also featured the interaction of artist and poet The Last Mango in Paris.

Touring:
Media Mix Tent, Big Chill Festival – 2005
Rio Cinema, London – 2005
Headspace Gallery, Brighton – 2005
Mash Cinema, Cattle Market, Herefordshire – 2006
Bitfilm Festival, Hamburg – 2006
Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury – 2007
Latitude Festival, Southwold – 2007

Created and mixed by Christopher Thomas Allen with Rob Rainbow on analogue projections.