AV Festival 12 : As Slow As Possible International Festival of Art, Technology, Music and Film Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Sunderland (UK) 1st - 31st March 2012 [ PDF ] website In the run-up to London 2012 with its motto of “Faster, Higher, Stronger” we propose an alternative slower pace and relaxed rhythm to counter the accelerated speed of today. Titled after ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible) by pioneering artist John Cage, the theme explores how artists have stretched, measured and marked the passage of time. Some works last the full 31 days, others are infinite in duration or move imperceptibly slowly: 14 seconds become 31 minutes, one hour becomes 24, and we can all dream together in a 12-hour sleep concert Century of Birthing (2011/Lav Diaz/The Philippines) Slow Cinema is a series of over thirty landmark films from leading international filmmakers, focused around slowness, and interwoven through AV Festival 12. From early pioneers to new releases, Slow