Jan Kulka: Archeoscope (bis)

Last year, we enjoyed a memorable evening with filmmaker Jan Kulka. After a lively discussion with the audience, a spontaneous mini-masterclass unfolded around his self-built Archeoscope projection machine. By popular demand, we are welcoming him back with NEW 70mm and 60mm work – this time as the opening event of our new film season!

Jan Kulka (Prague, 1985) is bringing the Archeoscope back with him. The Archeoscope is an analog, hand-operated live projection machine that he designed and built himself to explore and redefine what it means to experience films. The machine can project all common film formats – 8, 16, 35, 70 mm – as well as special formats, and all kinds of materials such as transparent tape, bandages, laces, fabrics, packaging tape, bubble wrap and barrier tape.

The Archeoscope has four independent light sources arranged side by side. The film does not run through the projector from top to bottom as is usually the case, but rather across it. The four light sources make it possible to project four different areas of an image or film strip simultaneously. This allows for countless combinations, rhythms and polyrhythms in which the four lamps can be switched on separately or together. As opposed to a regular projector running on 16, 18 or 24 frames per second, the Archeoscope doesn’t has any fixed frame rate, here the speed can be composed ​“musically”. The only way to tru­ly wit­ness a pro­jec­ti­on of the Archeoscope is to attend a live scree­ning in the phy­si­cal pre­sen­ce of the appa­ra­tus and its ope­ra­tor, as it is tech­ni­cally impos­si­ble to cap­tu­re and repro­du­ce the experience.