Lindgren & Langlois: The Archive Paradox is a dramatised exchange of letters between two influential film archivists on opposing sides of the debate between preservation and circulation.
Artist Ruth Beale has constructed a narrative from the writing, correspondence and commentators of Ernest Lindgren, the BFI National Film Archive’s first curator who was careful, scientific and restrained by public responsibilities and budgets; and Henri Langlois, the flamboyant and passionate co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française who collected, saved, and screened as widely as possible.
An installation of Beale’s research and drawings was presented at Grand Union within the stage set, in the lead up to a performance of The Archive Paradox on Thursday 28 November 2013.
Ruth Beale (b.1981) is an artist based in London. She has exhibited widely, including ‘Performing Keywords’, 2012, Turner Contemporary (Margate) and Het Veem Theatre (Amsterdam, forthcoming November), ‘The Voyage of Nonusch’, 2010, Whitstable Biennale (in collaboration with Karen Mirza), ‘Now from Now’, 2011, Cell (London), Government Art Collection (London) and Basel Kunsthalle. She runs Performance as Publishing with Nicole Bachmann and The Alternative School of Economics with Amy Feneck.