Deconstructing Val: set pieces

A crowd of hundreds gathers at Bergamot Station to see what is either an avant-garde approach to movie still photography or an indie-film version of clever promo. To wit, Val Kilmer -- star of the coming biopic “Wonderland,� about the life, career and death of accidental porn star John Holmes -- in “collaboration� with photographer Ali Alborzi, creates a series of collages using photographs taken on the set during the filming. The pair host an opening at Off Main gallery, where the works will be on display for a week, after which the exhibition will travel to London, Paris and Moscow.

“What you see in the photographs is a definitive moment of the character,� says the bearded Kilmer, decked out in black on black. The Aug. 24 reception, he adds, “is kind of an elaborate thank-you note� to the cast and crew for putting up with the extra-artistic intrusion.

Alborzi, camera in hand, would shadow the actors and crew and capture images that would then be scribbled over, repeated in, say, a cross shape, juxtaposed with clippings and found objects, or undergo myriad other transformations allowed by this free-flowing aesthetic enterprise. Call it “Being John Holmes.� Or “Deconstructing Val.� Or simply “an explosion of spontaneity,� as Alborzi describes the results.

Supermodel Angela Lindvall, wearing a specially designed collage dress, agrees. “Of course I love collage,� she adds. “That’s why I named my foundation Collage.� The nonprofit organization, which uses interactive media to stimulate youth interest in a variety of social issues, will receive a portion of the evening’s proceeds.

The synergy, like the imagery, can be dizzying.

Also attending the opening are director Phillip Noyce, a few models and rockers, and some of Kilmer’s previous co-stars, including Neve Campbell (the coming “Blind Horizon�) and Deborah Kara Unger (“Salton Sea�). “I love it,� Unger enthuses. “It’s personal. It’s disturbing. And I’m sad that two of the pieces that I want are already sold.�