‘It’s a really nice programme,’ said Dick, on her curated selection of short experimental films. ‘It first screened in 2017 at the IFI as part of a programme organised by AEMI (Artist Experimental Moving Image) and IMMA as I had a survey of my work showing at the museum. The screening was well received and AEMI had the idea to take programmes of work by filmmaker and artists to venues around the country. So far we have been to Limerick, Waterford and now Sligo.We will go to Carlow, Galway, Belfast and Clare later in the year.’
The programme, which has also toured extensively throughout the UK and is being screened alongside ‘To train the whole body as a tongue Curated by Sarah Browne.’ On the content of her selection, Dick remarked on the robust themes and landmass the programme spans. ‘The programme covers a wide range of experimental practice from the ’30s to the present day. Several countries are represented including England, Ireland, Russia, USA and Belgium. The programme is accessible and enjoyable but it is also challenging,’ said Dick, ‘that’s why I called it ‘Delirious Rhythm’ because you can get sweep away in it.’ This hypnotic programme features contributions from some well-known filmmakers such as D.A. Pennebaker who directed ‘Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back.’ His film Daybreak Express (1953) will be screened with contributions from Moira Tierney, Sarah Pucill and Masha Godovannaya.
As an artist, Dick came of age a within the ‘No Wave’, a short-lived avant-garde scene in the late 1970s in New York led by a collective of musicians, filmmakers and artists including Nan Goldin, Lydia Lunch, Arto Lindsay, James Chance and many others. ‘It was a very good time. There was no possibility of going to film school,’ said Dick, who began making short films in earnest. ‘I was surrounded by people who were making music, art and getting in theatre. We were making work and sharing it with each other. It was a very supportive environment.’ The first films that Dick made in New York were never intended to be mighty productions, like the first filmmakers, Dick was ‘exploring.’ ‘I was making films for the pleasure of it,’ said the artist, ‘It was very organic.’
As for experimental film this side of the Atlantic, Dick is impressed with how popular the discipline has become. ‘Experimental Filmmaking is its own independent discipline. It’s lyrical, rhythmical and intuitive. It doesn’t rely on story like mainstream cinema,’ said Dick, ‘The experimental film movement has really grown in Ireland in the last fifteen years. It makes a huge difference that experimental film is being shown in galleries and not just cinemas. It shows how hybrid and fluid the discipline has become. A lot of artists become filmmakers and vice versa. It’s very reassuring.’