“Pōneke’s Dan Harris (Illojgali) has unveiled nearly an hour of awesome viewing for your Easter lockdown weekend with Blackholes Are Gathering 黑洞正在集结, a film following The All Seeing Hand’s journey from Beijing to Xiamen on their 2017 tour of China, organised by Kiwese (who’ve also toured Womb, Strange Stains and Mr Sterile Assembly). The genre-defying trio of electronic guru Alphabethead, percussionist Ben Knight and vocalist Jonny Marks were accompanied on their travels by E/N/T and Kaishandao (the solo project of Kiwese’s Kristen Ng), with Alphabethead also performing solo. Described as “part documentary, part collaboration with the musicians involved,” the film deftly slices up and stitches together stunning performance footage and interstitial between-show moments, to conjure intoxicating brand new audio-visual sensations for viewers to relish.

“Kristen Ng shared her enthusiasm for Blackholes Are Gathering 黑洞正在集结, in an essay on the film over on the Kiwese site: “If art holds a mirror to reality, Illojgali holds reality to itself. A fly on the wall is too static, Illojgali’s lens is more like a roaming feline, swiftly slinking through scenes and gazing into the unknown. This is a trip through the buzzy and unexpected truths of the world as they wordlessly unfold — seeking balance in the vastness, moments of calm within the chaos. Inspired by observational films such as Baraka and Koyaanisqatsi, Blackholes Are Gathering masterfully captures a microcosm into the madness of movement within the infinite possibilities of the fastest developing, most populous nation on Earth.” – (from UTR)