What would it mean for a cinema to burn or be burned

like a church

like a bank

like a theater

like a supermarket

Has it ever be torched like none of these

Does it matter if the film had gotten stuck before the lamp, peeling and smoking, like old oil


magick mike said...

We remember the film. It started with light, the projector burnt the celluloid,
and the smell filled the small theater. We remember the headaches we got
when the image filtered through smoke to the blank white screen. Bodies
writhed in heat. Both in the theater, and in the film. We remember when
someone in the theater started to scream, when someone realized that the
door was locked, when the smoke parted to reveal flame. We remember
how the smell of smoke gave way to the smell of flesh.

the only sound was melt
the only body was still

new light | screen

| air
| space

We remember the cries, the way our skin felt as it blacked into stiff, the
sweat from our brow. We remember the experience of bodies pushing
against one another, an attempt at force. What we do not remember are
the films’ images.

ECW said...

I think we need to do a project together about a cinema burning down.

magick mike said...

i'm down. above is the opening fragment of a manuscript that i have no idea what to do with, haha.