Joost Rekveld's 'Liberate the Machines!' Explores Analogue Machines Through Film and Research

Joost Rekveld's 2025 book 'Liberate the Machines!' documents his restoration of old analogue machines for abstract films, blending theory and practice. Stemming from his PhD thesis, the 176-page publication includes 19 chapters and two appendixes that detail the production of his experimental film 'Mechanisms Common to Disparate Phenomena; #59'. Published by Studio Joost Rekveld in Brussels with KASK & Conservatorium Gent, the English-language work shares technical processes, scientific literature discoveries in computation and cybernetics, and political dimensions of analogue mechanisms. Rekveld's media archaeology approach combines textual and visual documents into a coherent artistic production, offering readers an immersive journey into reactivated machines from a contemporary perspective. The book reflects his unique strategies and nurtured interests through thorough research and resulting art.