Rolling polka dots, twirling ribbons, and flashing patterns—'The Patterned Screen’ is a kaleidoscopic look at the history of experimental moving image and animation. In dialogue with Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now, this screening programme retraces the tendencies, concepts, and techniques used by moving image artists to create colour, movement, repetition, rhythm, and musicality.

Featuring pioneer moving image artists such as Oskar Fischinger, Mary Ellen Bute, Len Lye, Norman McLaren, Scott Bartlett, Al Razutis, Simon Payne, Michael Betancourt, and Takashi Makino, ‘The Patterned Screen’ surveys the techniques artists use to create patterns with—or on—celluloid, video, and digital media.

This programme first introduces audiences to the early developments of visual music that became the vanguard of experimental animation. It then probes the theatrical potential of direct cinema techniques and the coordination between colour, light, and music with mid-century works, exploring how optical techniques compose and transpose visible soundtracks. Next, the screening presents works that mark the ubiquity of television and video, and emphasise the idea of synthesized, intermedia images. 'The Patterned Screen’ concludes with recent works that reflect on the digital and its impact on the making and perception of the moving image.