This page showcases some of the films that I have created over the years, either as promotional films for my arts practice and exhibitions, or as creative projects in themselves. My 2023 film 'Nonaptych Of My All-Too-Human Visions' is showcased here, as are 'Are We Orbiting Simulated Lives...?' from 2022, and 'Sparkling Isolation' from 2020. You can also see my 2020-21 film 'There's Life On Broken Ground' along with a short preview called 'Cup And Ring Marks'.
The film 'Artist Turns His Studio Into Stunning Psychedelic Gallery', went a little bit viral during the early days of the first coronavirus lockdown in the UK. Below these are older films, mostly promotional work, for the 'Paint Up With Kamamma' project in South Africa, 'Beyond Demons And Angels', a promo for my 2017 solo exhibition of the same name, and some videos about my 'Voice Project'. Older films from 2008-13 are seen at the end.
:: FILMS EXPLORING LONGFORM MULTI-PANEL FRIEZES ::
A major recent direction in my creative life is to lean into the creation of longform multi-panel artwork friezes in various media. This sits well with another recent creative flow, to more deeply integrate my emerging practices of music and poetry with my long-standing visual arts practice. The fusion of these has liberated a number of films, essentially scanning across the friezes to music, sometimes accompanied by poetry.
The latest of these films in 'Nonaptych Of My All-Too-Human Visions', exploring the long and winding creative process for my 2019-23 nine-panel frieze evoking deep-seated visions in my life. Next, 'Are We Orbiting Simulated Lives...?' was produced to accompany my multi-panel artwork of the same name during an exhibition in Wollongong Art Gallery, NSW Australia, while 'Sparkling Isolation' sets a 2020 UV frieze showcasing my 'Silent Painting' technique to music. Finally 'Chaos Within...' explores the cathartic and sexually graphic imagery from a monochrome longform drawing created from 2019-20.
'Nonaptych Of My All-Too-Human Visions' Short Film - Art / Music / Narrating my creative process |
'Are We Orbiting Simulated Lives...?' Short Film - Art / Poetry / Music Crossover |
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'Sparkling Isolation' Short Film - UV Frieze / Silent Painting Technique |
'Chaos Within...' A 2019 tribute to Keith Haring (18+ only !!) |
:: THERE'S LIFE ON BROKEN GROUND ::
This film project began in August 2020 with the creation of a music album, There's Life On Broken Ground, and during two difficult Covid-19 lockdowns in autumn and winter 2020-21, video soon folllowed. The final film is an emotional and intimate exploration of my local Yorkshire landscape, a unique production nothing like I have ever created in any part of my arts or creative practice. You can also see 'Cup and Ring Marks', an excerpt from this film, as well as 'Morningstar', a short film exploring an artwork of the same name, which was produced around the same time as an initial test, fusing art, music and poetry into a single medium.
Cup And Ring Marks A 4-minute preview film of '...Broken Ground' |
'Morningstar' Short Film - Art / Poetry / Music Crossover |
:: ABOUT MY WORK ::
These three films provide good introductions to the general themes in my work. The first was produced in March 2020, during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, and was intended to provide a bit of artistic relief for those strange times. The next film was produced for my 2017 solo show, Beyond Demons And Angels, and explores what drives my artistic practice as well as a bit about the unique media I use and the 'Dual Image' technique I am developing. The third film is called 'Thinking Strings' which narrates my 2016 participation in the PaintUp With Kamamma project in the town of Melkhoutfontein, Western Cape, South Africa. A slide show of the town with the murals is seen, and the narration is taken from my speech at the opening event for the project which was held on March 22nd 2016. Since then, I have returned to Melkhoutfontein to create three more murals and I hope to return again in 2018...
Artist Turns His Studio Into Stunning Psychedelic Gallery
A fun video from my studio in March 2020
Beyond Demons and Angels from Bruce Rimell A promo film for my 2017 solo show at Cupola Gallery, Sheffield |
Thinking Strings - Dreamcatcher South Africa A slide show about the 2016 PaintUp with Kamamma project |
:: THE VOICE PROJECT ::
The Voice Project is my initiative to create a large-scale multi-panel visionary mural – entitled The Voice – expressing the Imaginal, Ancestral and Dreamvision Voices of the Island of Britain. This is a 13 panel, dual image, 33-feet long love letter to my native land. Shown here are three films produced for the 2013 crowdfunding campaign which helped to fund the materials - the canvas panels and the acrylics, ink, marker and UV lacquer media - which, at the time of writing, are still being used to steadily unfold this mural into existence. Another film shows all the canvas panels marked out in summer 2013 and gives an idea of the scale of the project. You can see more about the Voice Project here, including the latest updates. I hope to complete the project by 2023-24.
The Voice Project from Bruce Rimell on Vimeo |
Bruce talks about The Voice Project from Bruce Rimell on Vimeo |
Introducing the project for my IndieGogo campaign in 2013 | Talking about the project with a projection of Panel #1 |
Dual Image - Daylight & UV Artworks from Bruce Rimell A quick glance at some early Dual Image artworks |
The Voice Project - 13 Panels Marked Out A sense of the Voice Project's scale... |
:: FERNAL FILMS ::
These two films were produced as something of a spin-off from the creation of The Encyclopaedia of Fernal Affairs, a Dreams & Divinities collaboration between myself, Liba Waring Stambollion, Gromyko Semper and over 100 other artists. This book narrated an imaginary paradisical Fernal Garden in which everything was alive, conscious and shimmering with beauty. One of my main tasks in the project was to come up with a mythology for the Garden, and in the process I also came up with a language. These films showcase both the language and the mythology: the first was shown at the Dreams & Divinities Fernal exhibition and book launch at Bash Contemporary, San Francisco, USA in May 2015, while the second was presented at the PoMoGaze art festival in June 2015.
Afer - A Fernalese Film from Bruce Rimell Shown at 'D&D Fernal' exhibition, San Francisco, USA (2015) |
Lucaion - A Fernalese Film from Bruce Rimell Shown at PoMoGaze art festival, Leeds, UK (2015) |
:: OTHER ART FILMS ::
In the early years of my artistict practice, I aspired not only to be a paintr and illustrator, but also a video artist, and as such, I created or collaborated on several short films for exhibitions. Three of them are shown here. 'Animated Palaeolithic' was produced for my 2009 solo exhibition 'Modern Palaeolithic' at Leeds College of Art & Design, exploring the life of the hunter gather and meanings within the cave art of the European Upper Palaeolithic, while 'Human Download' is rather more of a warped-conceptual, rapid-fire animated slideshow created for the ArtsMix* sponsored 'Born' exhibition at Holy Trinity Church, Leeds in June 2009. 'Flying Fox' was a collaboration with film-makers Adam Wells and Gary Palmer of Studio 163, as part of the 'This Is Not Cannes' art film festival in Bradford, UK in summer 2007. I also include here my short film of how the artwork The Tree Of Life And Death was created.
Tree of Life and Death from Bruce Rimell Demonstrating how my artwork layers are steadily built up |
Animated Palaeolithic from Bruce Rimell Shown at 'Modern Palaeolithic' exhibition, Leeds, UK (2009) |
Human Download from Bruce Rimell Shown at 'Born' exhibition, Leeds, UK (2009) |
Flying Fox from Bruce Rimell Shown at 'This Is Not Cannes' film festival, Bradford, UK (2007) |
:: SALVIAVISION FILMS ::
In the years 2006-08, I also produced several art films and animations which sought to evoke and resonate with my visionary experiences with the Mexican entheogenic herb salvia divinorum as part of an ongoing Salviaspace project. This was to have resulted in a book of paintings and drawings, and a DVD of short films, called 'Salviavision'. However, as I turned professional with my practice in 2007, my artistic concerns took different turns and the book and DVD never materialised. I have always been grateful for the foundational effects salvia has had on my artistic visual style, and two of the films from this series are shown here. You can see the Salviaspace Archive here...
Envaginate from Bruce Rimell A video poem exploring the sensual qualities of salvic visions. |
The Leaf Remembers from Bruce Rimell A homage to the visionary power of the salvia leaf. |