Final Scene: Thoughts
Reflections
2018
My personal reflections on Cinerama as a whole.
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The museums which house art is changing as much as its exhibitions are. As film becomes increasingly interactive, so do museums. Gone are the days of fixed installations; now the joy in visiting museums is in experiencing the exhibits through all our five senses[25].
My favourite works from this exhibition would definitely be Mokhtar’s Falim House: Observations and Korakrit’s Extinction. Both exhibits spoke about topics that I strongly relate to: our heritage, our identity, and technology; furthermore, their 4D experience is another reason why I felt more connected to them. Coincidentally, these are the same reasons that head curator John Tung shared with us as well, when we interviewed him about his favourite works: Korakrit’s Extinction and The Propellor Group’s AK-47 vs. M16.
For me, Cinerama is its own film. A chronological movie, revolving around its creators and Film itself. It carries both the main storyline of Film’s development and the underlying plot about humanity. This makes it a paradox. An exhibition that serves to educate us about film and its progress has avertedly been presented as a 4D film itself.
However, what differentiates Cinerama from conventional movies is how it gives viewers enough space and time to take in the information. Compared to modern day cinemas where we watch a full show in one sitting[26], Cinerama is one story formed by separate short films, in different spaces.
"The museum is a place where ideas and film parts are broken down, so that we can contemplate what was being shown to us. This is so we actually actively take in information, and not just take in what we are given."
- John Tung, Head Curator: Cinerama
I hope Cinerama becomes the future of film and the future of museums: where viewer participation forms part of the story, and where we are given enough time to digest information. In addition, the whole exhibition becomes the largest moving image display in the building, effectively morphing the museum into a theatre.
Cinerama is an extensive chronological exhibition that revolves around human struggles. It explores the notion of film being a documentation of human lives, where it presents the situation Man is in.