Utopia Parkway: It is from this fittingly poetic-sounding address in Queens, NY, that the art of Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) emerged. Although he scarcely left New York during his lifetime, Cornell's work was strongly influenced by his interest in the old continent, astronomy and eras long past. Cornell was intrigued with all things distant; but instead of starting to travel he created his own cosmos: "This is a man who would look at the stars and dream about the mechanics of the universe." (Walter Hopps)

Joseph Cornell was a cinephile, film collector, filmmaker and pioneering American assemblage artist. He called his work ‘white magic’ to distinguish it from the darker arts of the surrealists with whom he had a dialogue. From the late 30s onward he reworked Hollywood movies, travelogues and education films to create touching, sophisticated edits and juxtapositions. The first programme includes Rose Hobart which Dali accused Cornell of stealing from his dreams, and the newly rediscovered The Wool Collage. The second programme shows collaborations with other experimental filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage and Larry Jordan. Gnir Rednow and other titles here draw on material shot by Cornell’s collaborators which he then edited and reworked according to his particular aesthetic.

The palingenesis means regeneration after an apparent death. In cinema, the rebirth of nature may appear in the pattern, the shape of the film or the image itself. For example in the return of vegetation among the ruins and trauma of History (Resnais, Pollet, Herzog).