Milo on the decks
The Microplex is small but the Nanoplex is smaller. This is because it is scaled down for children and young people. Scaled down and simplified, the systems and controls are reduced to chunky objects for play and inquiry. The Cinema is a complex environment consisting of machines, processes and people in constant communication. As well as utilising and paralleling cube systems we need to make space; Nanoplex is the version of the cube that accommodates and makes way for young minds, encouraging active learning, creativity and providing opportunities for young people to help build and create their own culture.
Education has been a driving force in the history of the Cube: everyone is self taught. There was no manual on how to program and run a cinema in the beginning, no guide or model to base ourselves on, no instructions with the building. Everything has come from trial and error, from trying and sometimes failing. In the wider sense, this has contributed to success of the Cube. Active education is has been crucial for our development and is embedded in our foundations. Nanoplex was conceived in order to translate the Cubes educational framework into terms understood by children. Adapting the space and facilities can happen on several levels; conceptual as well as practical, rigid as well as fluid.
We see Nanoplex as a step toward providing young people with new opportunities to access and produce a program of contemporary arts and education on their own terms.
Nanoplex began in 2004 and was conceived by Kari Nygard, Kayle Brandon and Graeme Hogge.