Vrielynck Collection #2: Zoë Beloff – The Infernal Dream of Mutt and Jeff
Zoe Beloff (born in 1958, Edinburgh, Scotland) was the second artist who the M HKA, together with curator Edwin Carels (KASK/HoGent) invited for an intervention in the Vrielynck Collection.
In her work, Zoe Beloff looks for ways to depict the unconscious processes of the mind, while trying to make connections with the technology of the moving image and the psychology that underlies it. She herself coins it 'the dream life of technology’.
The starting point for The hellish dream of Mutt and Jeff is industrial and educational films from the 40s-60s which Beloff found at Baruch College in Manhattan, 'PowerPoint presentations of that time’ in her words. Her installation consisted of a projected video triptych in which she seamlessly combined new recordings with historical documentaries. She used a replica set to contextualise pieces from the Collection Vrielynck that were produced to make this kind of documentaries, such as 16mm cameras and projectors by Bell and Howell, Auricon and Ampro.