Melanie Counsell: Coronet Cinema
March - April 1993
Coronet Cinema, Mile End Road, London E1
Photograph by Stephen White
Originally a music hall, the Coronet Cinema stands on a site used for entertainment for about 150 years. Little Titch starred there at the beginning of the century, and Charlie Chaplin appeared in Fred Karno's Mumming Birds. In the 30s it was converted into the Empire Cinema - its Art Deco auditorium remains today.
But then the 800 seat cinema was left empty, the seating ripped, the magic gone. Within this abandoned but still grand interior, Counsell recreated the intense interaction between the spectator and the screen. Using film and sound, Counsell weaved a concentrated experience of time for the silenced interior.
A 16mm black and white film (duration 30 mins) revealed the gradual evaporation of a liquid from a small glass. From the street, visitors were directed through the entrance and foyer areas, to the upper circle of the cinema by a pathway of lights. On entering the auditorium, the immediate view of the image was disrupted by a ribbed glass screen. The screen follows the curve of the seating from wall to wall, and is too high to look over. Only by ascending to the upper limit of the seating area could they gain a full view of the projected film.
