February is a month of optical toy Mondays! This week’s magic is from Heidi Kumao’s “Cinema Machines” collection. From Heidi’s website: “From 1991-99, I created “cinema machines” for intimate installations. In each tableau, a sabotaged household object is fitted with a zoetrope-like projecting mechanism and a set of photographic transparencies.”

The mirrored machine in “Making Progress” more closely resembles a praxinoscope, projecting sequential large format slides from a cabinet above a heart-shaped box on a table. (You can watch it here:https://vimeo.com/23981976)

What I find most compelling about “Cinema Machines” is the quiet way the simple gestures evoke emotion and memory. They’re spectral, illusory, and stunning. (https://vimeo.com/40199467)

For more information about the collection, and for more videos, you can visit Heidi Kumao’s website: http://heidikumao.net/cinema-machines-2/

Have a filmtastic week!
Yay for film!!!