Original Format: 16mm

DEMOLITION OF A WALL takes six frames of the falling wall from the 1896 Lumière film and reorders them to show the six frames in all 720 possible permutations. With a score for piano that follows a similar pattern the film resembles change ringing, a musical form developed in England in the 17th century where the tuned bells of a church tower are rung in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". In the original Lumière film, we see Lumière himself directing workers to demolish the wall while a mysterious man in the background watches. In its first commercial screening, Lumière showed the film forward and backward. Here, we see 718 additional variations on the theme.