In case you were preoccupied with Pillow Fight 2008 or were too burned out from all the fun you had at his "Science of Sleep" exhibit last year, we checked out Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind" exhibit at Deitch Projects in New York City on Saturday, the outré installation's final day, so you didn't have to.

The entire gallery consisted of small film sets installed by Michel Gondry, director of the VHS-video store comedy "Be Kind Rewind." Each day of the installation's run, groups of friends and/or strangers spent about an hour making their own short films using these sets, with help from curators and other special guests. At any time, there could be dozens of clumsy indie films being made in the building, with few rules and no real supervision.

The exhibit, which opened on February 16th, included sets for old timey cafes, campsites in the forest, a homeless person's "village," a mall escalator, a train compartment, and even some miniatures. Patrons signed out small mini-DV cameras and were given free reign to make their own flicks, which were then screened in an alcove near the gallery's entrance/exit, a reward for completing the "task," as Deitch/Gondry referred to the filmmaking process.

This one, from Watergun Films, is already up on YouTube. We need more of these DIY clunkers, as a matter of fact; they're so much more charming than unfunny Hollywood "indies" like "Be Kind Rewind." 

[Top Photo: La Mariposa]

[Middle Photo: This Week in NY] 

[An extensive interview with Michel Gondry on the film and the installation.]