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Maps of Other Possibilities, 2025

A film about the work and archive of the Bow Gamelan Ensemble
Made in collaboration with the original members (Anne Bean and Richard Wilson) this is an experimental documentary which delves into the archive of Bow Gamelan Ensemble (1983-1993). It creates new collisions of past and present through an interplay of sound, noise, performance and river landscapes. Layering archival footage with new material shot on the Slice of Reality (Richard Wilson), the film offers a new summoning of their experimental and fizzing spirit.

Screenings

Tate Britain, London, February 2025
Wet Tech, Dundee, May 2025
Matts Gallery, London, March 2026

Film Stills


Directors Reflections 

Alex Eisenberg


With this film we wanted to expand the physical archive of the Bow Gamelan Ensemble, give it new soundings and explode through film. The archive had been stored on the unique sculpture the Slice of Reality (by Richard Wilson) a huge cross section of a ship located in the River Thames. So much of BGE’s work was located in and around the river and we worked to draw new lines and flows in and out of watery landscapes, finding ways for the archive to emerge between rust and cracks and creeks. 

The challenge of this film was to infuse the monumental scale and spectacle of BGE into 20 mins. The film was a process of layering, finding new connections and other possibilities that could be mapped and fired up through a re-engagement with the archival documents now - video, photos, posters, drawings and conviviality over flaming Sambucca on the ships bridge! The past seeping its way into the present - slightly inebriated. This backwards/forward sort of way of working. A way of recycling memories and energies, especially the risky, uncontained and immense ones  - so that we might absorb some essence of them now and into the future. Because we need this in what can sometimes feel like a stifling moment to live.

Thanks to the possibility of that time of the 80s’, to all those who made BGE happen and to the few people who had the nouse to make some recordings never mind how shaky and seemingly impossible it was to capture such enthralling moments. Thank you to Anne, Richard and Paul for all that you conjured! I feel very grateful for the contact I’ve had with the work.

Maps of Other Possibilities

19 mins, 2025

Directed and edited by
Alex Eisenberg
In collaboration with Anne Bean and Richard Wilson

Camera - Alex Eisenberg and Tali Clarke
Sound - Nicol Parkinson
Production - Ben Harris
Colour - Liuba Syluserova
Consulting Editor - Joe Cohen

Funded by Recollect Artists, Legacies Futures Award DACS

The archives of Bow Gamelan Ensemble are held at the Bristol University Theatre Collection

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