Feel the Beat
Leslie Bell
Single channel video projection – loop (08:00), 2016
Feel the Beat is a film collage that creates a conversation between abstract imagery, movement, color, and sound. The imagery consists of a combination of stop-motion animation (water-based paint over backlit glass) plasticine, video footage, and post-production effects. Building on the techniques discovered through her earlier films, “Aquarius” and “Colorado”, Bell uses a puddle of paint on a light table to transport the viewer into an immersive abstract universe that speaks to the deep sea and to the far reaches of outer space. The soundtrack is composed of field recordings that represent the artist’s personal soundscape for the summer of 2016, while the animation was in production.
Leslie Bell is an abstract painter, installation artist and filmmaker living in Calgary, Alberta. Her practice is motivated by the infinite possibility of abstract form and a compulsive need to make things, especially if it involves a time consuming process like stop-motion animation. In 2002, She received her BFA in Painting from the Alberta College of Art + Design and then went on to complete her MFA in Studio Arts at Concordia University, Montreal in 2009. In 2008, Bell received the QAS/NFB Production Scholarship, leading to her first animated film. Since then, she has been involved with Quickdraw Animation Society as a producing member, volunteer and board member. In 2013, Bell was commissioned by PopMontreal to complete a short experimental animation “Colorado” for their “Auroratone” film package. Bell is currently teaching at the Alberta College of Art + Design in the Painting Department.
The Frame is the Keyframe: Frame Anomalies
November 10, 2016 – December 16, 2016
Featuring new works by:
Becka Barker
Leslie Bell
Marten Berkman
Philippe Blanchard
Stephen Broomer
Sabrina Ratté
Nicolas Sassoon
Curated by Madi Piller, with an essay by Clint Enns
Presented with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts – Media Arts Initiatives
and with additional funding provided by
and in partnership with
