Screened in association with our latest Len Lye exhibition, The Absolute Truth of the Happiness Acid, the Len Lye Centre Cinema presents a short survey of the artist’s most well-known films.

A thirty minute-long showing of short films will be shown daily.

Screenings will alternate between two different programmes; one of works produced in the United Kingdom during the 1930s and another of films made in the United States during the 1950s.

Programme #1 Len Lye: British Films
Approximate running time: 32 minutes

These short, musical bursts of colour were commissioned by commercial and government organisations. Announcements from the British Post Office and advertisements from Shell Oil and Imperial Airways put Lye’s ground breaking film techniques in front of audiences of millions.

A Colour Box, 1935, 4 min

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation and the British Postal Museum and Archive from material preserved by the BFI National Archive and made available by Nga Taonga Sound & Vision

The Birth of The Robot, 1936

Courtesy of Shell Global and the Len Lye Foundation from material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.

Rainbow Dance, 1936

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation and The British Postal Museum & Archive from material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.

Trade Tattoo, 1937

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation and the British Postal Museum and Archive. From material preserved and made available by Nga Taonga Sound & Vision.

N or NW?, 1937

Courtesy the Len Lye Foundation and British Postal Museum and Archive from material preserved by the BFI National Archive and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Colour Flight, 1938

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.

Programme #2: Len Lye: US Films
Approximate running time: 29 minutes

Lye’s American-made experimental films. Even without the support of a commercial sponsor, Lye continued to produce some of the most acclaimed pieces of experimental cinema. While still capable of astonishing feats of music and colour, Lye’s American works feature his acclaimed monochrome scratch films, recognised internationally as cinematic masterpieces.

Color Cry, 1952

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Ariel’s Song, 1952

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Life's Musical Minute, 1953

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

All Soul's Carnival, 1957

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material made available by the Museum of Modern Art, New York and preserved by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Digital version courtesy of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery

Rhythm, 1957

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Free Radicals, 1958

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Digital version by Park Road Post Production and Weta Digital Ltd.

Prime Time, 1958

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Particles in Space, 1979

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Digital version by Park Road Post Production and Weta Digital Ltd.

Tar Farlow, 1980

Courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation. From material preserved and made available by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. Digital version by Park Road Post Production and Weta Digital Ltd.