--> Random Post

avant-garde

Older Entries »

Michael Robinson’s CIRCLE SPECTRE PAPER FLAME, Opening Saturday, April 6th, Carrie Secrist Gallery, CHICAGO

2 April, 2013 by
untitled (suns) / 2013 / archival pigment print / 48 x 32 & 3/5 inches

untitled (suns) / 2013 / archival pigment print / 48 x 32 & 3/5 inches

MICHAEL ROBINSON
CIRCLE SPECTRE PAPER FLAME
Carrie Secrist Gallery
835 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL, 60607 (map)
APRIL 6 – MAY 11, 2013

This Saturday, Michael Robinson‘s “Circle Spectre Paper Flame” solo exhibition opens at the Carrie Secrist Gallery here in Chicago. The show includes a new series of collages and photographs, and an installation of Robinson’s new film Circle In The Sand, which will screen hourly for the run of the exhibition. I recently saw Circle In The Sand at the 51st Ann Arbor Film Festival, and it certainly was one of my favorites, a true otherworldly vision. If you’re in Chicago, don’t miss the opportunity to tune in and drop out.

—
“ In his first solo exhibition with Carrie Secrist Gallery, Michael Robinson presents a new body of photo and collage work together with the film Circle in the Sand (2012). Layering and reassembling leftovers of culture, the artist creates contemporary venues for spiritual exchange and transformation. The resulting pictures hum subtly, revealing new meanings.

In the main space, Robinson exhibits new photographs offering a magical interpretation of landscape. Using basic light manipulation, Robinson captures subjects such as forest mushrooms and moonlight cast on a book page. Communicating an oblique narrative, his eerily pleasing images capture the potential for transcendence in the mundane.

Alongside the photographs, Robinson shows new collage work. In each mixed media piece, central halo forms frantically explode across found photographic backgrounds. The backgrounds act as photographic representations or readymade additions to the disseminated montage of deities in each foreground. Robinson mines sources as varied as fruit tree diseases and 1980s computer graphics to generate his otherworldly scenes.

In the second gallery, Robinson screens Circle in the Sand (2012). Set in a post-apocalyptic near future, the 45-minute film follows a band of listless vagabonds ambling across a war-torn coastal territory. Rummaging, stuttering, and smashing through the scraps of Western culture, this group of ragged souls conjures an unstable magic fueled by their own apathy and the poisonous histories imbedded in their unearthed junk.

Circle in the Sand screened previously at the New York Film Festival (2012) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2013); the film will project hourly at the Carrie Secrist Gallery during its Chicago debut.

Past exhibitions and screenings for Michael Robinson (American, b. 1981) include the 2012 Whitney Biennial, Walker Art Center, MoMA P.S.1, London Film Festival, REDCAT Los Angeles, Sundance Film Festival, Tate Modern, San Francisco International Film Festival, and Hong Kong International Film Festival. Honors include a Kazuko Trust Award (2012), a Creative Capital Grant (2012), and a 2011-2012 Film/Video Residency Award from the Wexner Center for the Arts.

Michael Robinson: Circle Spectre Paper Flame will be on view through May 11, 2013. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday 10:30 to 6 and Saturday 11 to 5 or by appointment. ”

Other notable events:

  • April 6 from 5 to 8 PM: Opening Reception at Carrie Secrist Gallery
  • May 1 at 6 PM: Michael Robinson curates Video Playlist at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago, 600 S. Michigan Ave., 312.663.5554
  • May 3 at 8 PM: Michael Robinson screens recent short film at The NIGHTINGALE, 1084 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Share

Posted in art, avant-garde, event, experimental film
Comments Off

2013 Ann Arbor Film Festival Program (via Bad Lit), Trailers, and Notable Events

19 March, 2013 by

The 51st Ann Arbor Film Festival — one of the best avant garde film festivals in the world — opens tonight, March 19, with an opening night screening featuring work by Jodie Mack, Bryan Boyce, and more. The 51st AAFF runs Tuesday, March 19 – Sunday, March 24th.

With so many worthwhile screenings, it’s difficult to enumerate all of the notables.

Some highlights include new work by Jodie Mack, Ben Rivers, Laida Lertxundi, Bryan Boyce, Jennifer Reeder, Lawrence Jordan, Semiconductor, Michael Robinson, Lori Felker, Jesse McLean, Scott Stark, Fern Silva, Kent Lambert, Les Blank, and many more; a Polish Animation Juror Presentation by Marcin Giżycki; a “Psychedelic Visions and Expanded Consciousness Los Angeles in the ’60s and ’70s” program; a Juror Presentation by Laida Lertxundi; and Our Nixon directed by Penny Lane.

Below is the quick schedule for the 2013 Ann Arbor Film Festival — special thanks to Mike Everleth at Badlit.com for formatting the quick schedule — which was originally posted here.

More information can be found at the AAFF website. If you’re in the midwest, do not miss this, take a road triip.

C U @ the party.

 

March 19

8:15 p.m.: “Opening Night Screening”
Century, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Waiting Room, dir. Jake Fried
Rating Dogs on a Scale of 1 to 10, dir. Mark Toscano
Marcel, King of Tervuren, dir. Tom Schroeder
Beaver Creek Yard, dir. Laska Jimsen
Magnetic Reconnection, dir. Kyle Armstrong
Da Vinci, dir. Yuri Ancarani
Dad’s Stick, dir. John Smith
Persian Pickles, dir. Jodie Mack
More Is Always on the Way, dir. Bryan Boyce
Wildwood Flower, dir. A. Keewatin Dewdney

March 20

12:00 p.m.: “Juror Presentation: Marcin Gizycki — Polish Animation”
Sztandar Młodych, dir. Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk
Here and There, dir. Andrzej Pawłowski
Italia 61, dir. Jan Lenica, Wojciech Zamecznik
Sweet Rhythms, dir. Kazimierz Urbański
The Dynamic Rectangle, dir. Józef Robakowski
What Do We See After Closing Our Eyes, dir. Julian Antonisz
5/4, dir. Hieronim Neumann
The First Film, dir. Józef Piwkowski
Tuning the Instruments, dir. Jerzy Kucia
Bark, You Mongrel, Raise Hell, My Pearl, dir. Wojciech Bą kowski
Kinefaktura, dir. Marcin Giżycki

4:30 p.m.: The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott, dir. Luke Fowler. A meditation on Edward Palmer Thompson, who taught literature and social history to the working people of the industrial towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England.
Screening with:
August and After, dir. Nathaniel Dosky

7:00 p.m.: “Psychedelic Visions and Expanded Consciousness Los Angeles in the ’60s and ’70s”
Les angeS Dorment, dir. Felix Venable
Lapis, dir. James Whitney
Waterfall, dir. Chick Strand
Evolution of the Red Star, dir. Adam Beckett
Binary Bit Patterns, dir. Michael Whitney
Terminal Self, dir. John Whitney Jr.
Coming Down, dir. Pat O’Neill
Pulse, dir. Peter Spoecker/B.Y.M. Productions
Aether, dir. Daina Krumins
Twelve (The First Three Parts…), dir. Beth Block
Tanka, dir. David Lebrun
The Star Curtain Tantra, dir. Peter Mays

7:15 p.m.: “Films in Competition 1″

Pittsburgh 8/5/68, dir. Ted Kennedy
Postface, dir. Frédéric Moffet
Girls Love Horses, dir. Jennifer Reeder
106 River Road, dir. Josh Weissbach
Life is an Opinion, Fire a Fact, dir. Karen Yasinsky
Artificial Persons, dir. Katherin McInnis
Incorporating Guilt Within an Autonomous Robot, dir. Steve Wetzel
Hermeneutics, dir. Alexei Dmitriev
Memorial Land, dir. Bill Brown

9:15 p.m.: People’s Park, dir. Libbie Cohn and J.P. Sniadecki. A single-shot documentary covering a journey across a famous urban park in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

9:30 p.m.: “Out Night: History, Glamor, Magic”
Advanced Search Terms, dir. Daniel Barrow
Encounters I May or May Not Have Had With Peter Berlin, dir. Mariah Garnett
Colin Is My Real Name, dir. Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay
She Gone Rogue, dir. Zackary Drucker, Rhys Ernst
Liberaceón, dir. Chris Vargas
Song for Rent, dir. Jack Smith

March 21

12:00 p.m.: “Juror Presentation: Laida Lertxundi”
Lemon, dir. Hollis Frampton
Footnotes to a House of Love, dir. Laida Lertxundi
My Tears Are Dry, dir. Laida Lertxundi
All My Life, dir. Bruce Baillie
Cry When it Happens (Llora Cuando Te Pase), dir. Laida Lertxundi
A Lax Riddle Unit, dir. Laida Lertxundi
Picture and Sound Rushes, dir. Morgan Fisher
Farce Sensationelle!, dir. Laida Lertxundi
The Room Called Heaven, dir. Laida Lertxundi

2:30 p.m.: “Critical Means #1″
The first of two discussions focusing on the current state of film criticism and writing, with a panel of scholars, critics, programmers and filmmakers.

5:10 p.m.: “Penny W. Stamps Presents Ken Burns”

7:00 p.m.: “Films in Competition 2″
February, dir. Inhan Cho
I Am Micro, dir. Shai Heredia, Shumona Goel
The Transits of Venus, dir. Nicky Hamlyn
Replacement, dir. Katarzyna Plazinska
Looking Glass Insects, dir. Charlotte Pryce
Solar Sight II, dir. Lawrence Jordan
Deep Red, dir. Esther Urlus
Flower, dir. NAOKO Tasaka

7:15 p.m.: Leviathan, dir. Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor. This poetic documentary profiles a massive groundfish trawler that works off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

9:15 p.m.: “Films in Competition 3″
Some Part of Us Will Have Become, dir. Semiconductor
Swan Song, dir. Anouk de Clercq, Jerry Galle, Anton Aeki
Passage, dir. Madison Brookshire, Tashi Wada
Secretion, dir. Willie Doherty
Splices for Sharits, dir. Joseph Bernard
2012, dir. Takashi Makino

9:30 p.m.: “Suzan Pitt Retrospective Program 1″
Jefferson Circus Songs, dir. Suzan Pitt (1973)
El Doctor, dir. Suzan Pitt (2006)
Joy Street, dir. Suzan Pitt (1995)

March 22

12:00 p.m.: “Juror Presentation: Kevin Jerome Everson”
Rhinoceros, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Workers Leaving the Job Site, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Stoplight Liberty, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Blue Caps, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Juneteenth Columbus, Mississippi, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Charlie’s Proof, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Rita Larson’s Boy, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
The Pritchard, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Fifteen an Hour, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Emergency Needs, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Something Else, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
The Picnic, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson
Second Shift, dir. Kevin Jerome Everson

2:30 p.m.: “Critical Means #2″
A continuation of the discussion on Thursday, with contributions from writers, scholars and critics based in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Boston and Toronto

5:00 p.m.: “Polish Avant-Garde Animation Films”
The House, dir. Jan Lenica, Walerian Borowczyk
The Labyrinth, dir. Jan Lenica
Market Place, dir. J&ocute;zef Robakowski, Tadeusz Junak, Ryszard Meissner
The Journey, dir. Daniel Szczechura
New Book, dir. Zbigniew Rybczyński
Tango, dir. Zbigniew Rybczyński
Line, dir. Grzegorz Rogala
Block, dir. Hieronim Neumann
Spoken Movie 1, dir. Wojciech Bąkowski
Paper Box, dir. Zbigniew Czapla

7:00 p.m.: The End of Time, dir. Peter Mettler. An exploration of our perception of time, traveling from the particle accelerator to lava flows in Hawaii to a Hindu funeral rite and othe exotic locations.

7:30 p.m.: “Films in Competition 4″
Our Summer Made Her Light Escape, dir. Sasha Waters Freyer
I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard, dir. Matt Wolf
Audition, dir. Karen Yasinsky
The Mutability of All Things and the Possibility of Changing Some, dir. Anna Marziano
Handful of Dust, dir. Hope Tucker
WEST: What I know about her, dir. Kathryn Ramey

9:30 p.m.: “Films by Pat O’Neill”
Ojo Caliente, dir. Pat O’Neill (2012)
Painter & Ball 4-14, dir. Pat O’Neill (2011)
Squirtgun/Stepprint, dir. Pat O’Neill (1998)
Foregrounds, dir. Pat O’Neill, (1979)
Saugus Series, dir. Pat O’Neill (1974)
Downwind, dir. Pat O’Neill (1973)
Last of the Persimmons, dir. Pat O’Neill (1972)

9:45 p.m.: “Animated Films in Competition”
The Deep End, dir. Jake Fried
and/or, dir. Emily Hubley
Bite of the Tail, dir. Song E Kim
Stay Home, dir. Caleb Wood
Pareidolia, dir. Maya Erdelyi
A Modern Convenience, dir. Maureen Selwood
Beluga, dir. Shin Hashimoto
Pinball, dir. Suzan Pitt
Sugarcoat, dir. Meejin Hong
In Hanford, dir. Chris Mars
Isle of the Dead (La Isla de los Muertos), dir. Vuk Jevremovic
PXXXL, dir. Lauren Cook
Dumb Day, dir. Kevin Eskew
Binary, dir. Ben Popp

March 23

11:00 a.m.: Your Day Is My Night, dir. Lynne Sachs. A hybrid documentary covering the stories told in a Chinatown “shift-bed” apartment, as told through dreams, movement and song.
Screening with:
Despedida (Farewell), dir. Alexandra Cuesta

12:00 p.m.: The Central Park Five, dir. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon. This documentary covers the sensationalist story of five teenagers from Harlem who were convicted of brutally beating and raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989, then set free when the real culprit was finally found.

1:00 p.m.: “Films in Competition 5″
Zabriskie Point (Redated), dir. Stephen Connolly
Entre Temps, dir. Ana Vaz
Phantoms of Libertine, dir. Ben Rivers
The United States of America, dir. Bette Gordon, James Benning

3:30 p.m.: “Films in Competition 6″
BROKEN NEWS 1: Disaster, dir. Lori Felker
Our relationships will become radiant, dir. James Lowne
Circle in the Sand, dir. Michael Robinson
The Invisible World, dir. Jesse McLean

4:00 p.m.: Water and Power, dir. Pat O’Neill. One of the most significant experimental films from the 1980s, O’Neill spent nearly ten years creating this poetic dedication to activities found within the Los Angeles Basin.
Screening with:
7362, dir. Pat O’Neill

7:00 p.m.: “Suzan Pitt Retrospective Program 2″
Bowl, Theatre, Garden, Marble Game, dir. Suzan Pitt (1970)
Whitney Commercial, dir. Suzan Pitt (1973)
Crocus, dir. Suzan Pitt (1971)
The Damnation of Faust, dir. Suzan Pitt (1988)
ESO-S, dir. Suzan Pitt (1985)
Pinball, dir. Suzan Pitt (2013)
Visitation, dir. Suzan Pitt (2011)
Asparagus, dir. Suzan Pitt (1979)

7:15 p.m.: “Films in Competition 7″
Ritournelle, dir. Christopher Becks, Peter Miller
Nile Perch, dir. Josh Gibson
Seoul Electric, dir. Richard Tuohy
48 Heads from the Merkurov Museum (after Kurt Kren), dir. Anna Artaker
Hay Algo Y Se Va. , dir. There is something. Now it’s gone.), dir. Kimberly Forero-Arnias
Bloom, dir. Scott Stark
Burn, dir. Paddy Jolley, Reynold Reynolds
Arbor, dir. Janie Geiser
Burning Star, dir. Joshua Gen Solondz
Here Is Everything, dir. Duke and Battersby

9:15 p.m.: Suitcase of Love and Shame, dir. Jane Gillooly. Constructed from an accidentally uncovered reel-to-reel audiotape, two lovers make their way through the sexual revolution.
Screening with:
Skinningrove, dir. Michael Almereyda

9:30 p.m.: “Films in Competition 8″
Split Ends, I Feel Wonderful, dir. Akosua Adoma Owusu
Orpheus (outtakes), dir. Mary Helena Clark
Releasing Human Energies, dir. Mark Toscano
Someone behind the door knocks at irregular intervals, dir. James Lowne
Concrete Parlay, dir. Fern Silva
Wrest, dir. Kent Lambert
21 Chitrakoot, dir. Shambhavi Kaul
Meteor, dir. Matthias Müller, Christoph Girardet
Rabbit, dir. Run Wrake

March 24

11:00 a.m.: “Films in Competition 9 (Ages 6+)”
The Edge of Summer, dir. Charlotte Taylor
Like a Lantern, dir. Lilli Carré
Triangles, dir. Ben Popp
Dear Pluto, dir. Joanna Priestley
Song of the Spindle, dir. Drew Christie
Coversong, dir. Eric Dyer
Close the Lid Gently, dir. Ariana Gerstein
Burrow-Cams, dir. Sam Easterson
Skin, dir. Deanna Morse
Blanket Statement #1: Home Is Where the Heart Is, dir. Jodie Mack
Island Light, dir. Andrew Rosinski
Places With Meaning, dir. Scott Fitzpatrick
Don’t Break Down, dir. Matt Meindl

11:30 a.m.: “Regional Competition Program”
Where Will We Go by IAMDYNAMITE, dir. Marty Stano
Retrospective, dir. Brandon Belote
Me (That’s What She Said), dir. Kelly Dudzik
Printing in the Infernal Method, dir. Ben Beckett
Monster, Me, dir. Milt Klingensmith
Echoes in a Shallow Bay, dir. Scott Northrup
They Cannot Touch Her, dir. Katie Barkel
Open City, dir. Tracey D. Sims
City Without a Past, dir. Nicole Macdonald
Who Are We?, dir. Aaron Valdez
The Slaughter, dir. Jason B. Kohl

12:00 p.m.: “Music Videos in Competition”
I’ll Be Around by Yo La Tengo, dir. Phil Morrison
Black Up by Shabazz Palaces, dir. Kahlil Joseph
Quicksand Passin’ Through by Tijuana Hercules, dir. John Vernon Forbes, Shawn Brennan
Bird of Flames by David Lynch, Chrysta Bell, dir. Chel White
Postcard From 1952 by Explosions in the Sky, dir. Peter Simonite, Annie Gunn
Reagan by Killer Mike, dir. Daniel Garcia, Harry Teitelman
Jack by U.S. Girls, dir. Emily Pelstring
And And by Toru Matsumoto, dir. Mirai Mizue
Wild Rumpus by Sonnymoon, dir. Lauren Santorio
Kicks by The Judy Green, dir. Kent Lambert
Monad by Chris Cohen, dir. Kate Dollenmayer
Until the Quiet Comes by Flying Lotus, dir. Kahlil Joseph
Hot Potato Style by Nicky Da B, dir. Bob Weisz, Casey Coleman
Hashshashin Chant by Demdike Stare, dir. Jonny Redman

1:00 p.m.: “Films in Competition 10″
where she stood in the first place., dir. Lindsay McIntyre
Decroux’s Garden, dir. Baba Hillman
Buffalo Death Mask, dir. Mike Hoolboom
17 New Dam Rd., dir. Dani Leventhal
Jackson / Marker 4am, dir. Ruth Beckermann
Spend It All, dir. Les Blank

2:00 p.m.: The Radiant, dir. The Otolith Group. This documentary explores the aftermath of the horrific earthquake that struck the northeast coast of Japan on March 11, 2011.
Screening with:
Reconnaissance, dir. Johann Lurf
Construct, dir. Robert Todd

3:00 p.m.: Our Nixon, dir. Penny Lane. This documentary is constructed entirely of real Super 8 “home movies” created by White House aides during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
Screening with:
Lie Back and Enjoy It: A Film About JoAnn Elam, dir. Jessica Bardsley

6:00 p.m.: “Award Screening 1″

8:00 p.m.: “Award Screening 2″

 

More:

Official Site: 51 Ann Arbor Film Festival

2013 Ann Arbor Film Festival: Official Lineup via Badlit.com

Sidenote: my new film Island Light is playing at the 51 AAFF on Sunday, March 24, as part of the Films in Competition 9 program. I try not to mention my stuff on DINCA, but this seems sorta apropos.

Share

Posted in animation & motion design, avant-garde, event, experimental film, film
1 Comment »

mbs_fp_090712_demo_reel.mov by Michael Bell-Smith

3 October, 2012 by

Michael Bell-Smith

Michael Bell-Smith

mbs_fp_090712_demo_reel.mov, Michael Bell-Smith, Brooklyn, 2012, 2 min, color, sound

An aberrant demo reel by Michael Bell-Smith promoting his “mbs_fp_090712” show at Foxy Production (September 7 – October 20, 2012).

More:

“mbs_fp_090712” show at Foxy Production

Michael Bell-Smith’s website

Share

Posted in animation & motion design, avant-garde, computer art, video art
Comments Off

Invitation: Phil Solomon’s American Falls at the Museum of Moving Image, 10.3.12

1 October, 2012 by

Phil Solomon
American Falls
Museum of Moving Image
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
(RSVP to rsvp@movingimage.us by Monday, October 1)

American Falls is a phenomenal installation, and it’s always a treat to hear Phil elucidate his work, so if you’re in the NYC area, don’t miss this opening — RSVP today.

Phil Solomon, who has been making films since 1979, is known for his “image alchemy,” manipulating existing and original footage to create evocative, dreamlike works that reveal subterranean depths in the imagery. While Solomon frequently works in a miniaturist scale with such formats as 16mm film and video, his triptych film American Falls, presented at the Museum as an installation in the third-floor Changing Exhibitions Gallery, is appropriately monumental in form and scope, taking as its subject nothing less than the promise and the failure of the American Dream through the twentieth century. This is a special opportunity to see American Falls and to also see Solomon introduce a selection of his work in the Main Theater. Included in the theater program is a trilogy of works composed entirely of footage from the video game Grand Theft Auto. — Museum of Moving Image

 

More:

An Evening with Phil Solomon

Phil Solomon’s website

Museum of Moving Image

 

Share

Posted in avant-garde, event, experimental film, film
Comments Off

Trailer: Circle in the Sand (2012) by Michael Robinson

27 August, 2012 by

michael-robinson-circle-in-the-sand-2012
michael-robinson-circle-in-the-sand-2012

Coming soon.
Circle in the Sand | Michael Robinson | 2012 | 47 min

“In the near future, amidst the aftermath of civil war, a band of female prisoners ambles across an otherwordly coastal exile, supervised and sorted by a group of idle soldiers. Rummaging, stuttering, and smashing through the leftovers of American culture, these ragged souls conjure an unstable magic, fueled by their own apathy and the poisonous histories imbedded in their unearthed junk. Suspicion, boredom, garbage, and glamor conspire in the languid pageantry of ruin. Feel the breeze in your hair, and the world crumbling through your fingers.

Filmed in Northern California and Central New York, with performances by Julia Austin, Rachel Bernstein, Hajera Ghori, Douglas Martin, James McHugh, Gennaro Panarello, and Chad Southard, with costumes and sets by Dana Carter. Supported by The Wexner Center Film/Video Residency Award and Creative Capital.” — MR

More:

Michael Robinson’s website

Michael Robinson’s vimeo

Share

Posted in avant-garde, experimental film
Comments Off

Announcing DINCA VISION QUEST 2012

1 August, 2012 by

Thursday, August 16–Saturday, August 18, 2012
1807 S. Allport St., Chicago, IL (map)
Free. 8pm e’ery night. (Seating is limited; first-come, first served, or RSVP here.)
Seating is limited; RSVP recommended. Please call 978-590-2900 if you have any questions.

Official program notes –> Click here for DINCA VISION QUEST 2012 program notes w/ film synopses.

Vision Quest website –> click here.

DINCA VISION QUEST 2012 will host three nights of vision quest festivities in Chicago, including a handful of screenings with live audio/video performances. VISION QUEST’s credo is to translate the dinca.org blog experience into an amalgamated IRL (in real life) experience, to further expand the ambit of experimental film & video, new media art, internet art, and to share the subterranean magic of great artists & filmmakers in a physical and social setting.  In addition to screening work from around the world, it’s our mission to bolster the Chicago arts community by featuring the works of many Chicago filmmakers & artists in a setting that’s free of charge.

The screenings will take place in Thalia Hall (1807 S. Allport St.), a grand old Czech theatre built in 1892 in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.  Thalia Hall remained in use until the mid 1960s.  Since then, the theatre has largely been abandoned, seeing raves and metal shows in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and most recently, a Space Program multiple-date screening series organized by artist and filmmaker, Ben Russell, during the spring of 2011.  Since then, the theatre has been inactive, and with VISION QUEST 2012, we wish to revive the building with free screenings of contemporary recherché film and video, with subsequent real-time a/v performances. (More information on Thalia Hall.)

Much more information will be released soon; here is the lineup.

 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

COMPUTER BLOOD.

Featuring work by:

Bea Fremderman
Chris Naka 
Eijane Janet Lin 
Emilio Gomariz 
Eric Fleischauer 
Gabrielle de Vietri 
Geoffrey Pugen 
Jesse McLean
Jennifer Chan
Joe Hamilton
Miyo Van Stenis
Nicholas O’Brien
Nicolas Sassoon & Sara Ludy
Sarah Weis & Emilie Gervais
Stephanie Barber
Telcosystems presented by Bonobostudio

w/ presentations by:
• Jon Satrom (real-time a/v desktop hacking performance)

 

Friday, August 17, 2012

SCINTILLATING TRIPS.

Featuring work by:

Andrew Norman Wilson
Ben Russell
Bobby Abate presented by the VDB
Brenna Murphy
Frank Pollard
Jaakko Pallasvuo
Jesse Malmed
Jodie Mack
Joshua Solandz
Kent Lambert
Kerry Laitala
Max Hattler
Neil Ira Needleman
Robert Todd
Sabrina Ratte
Shana Moulton
Stephanie Barber
Theodore Darst
Tony Balko

w/ presentations by:
• Arcane Bolt (arcanebolt is a crew [Tamas Kemenczy, Mark Beasley, & Alex Inglizian] of dweomerkrafters building up & breaking naive circuits and bygone hardware)

 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

AN OPEN DOOR.

Featuring work by:

Ben Russell
Chris Kennedy
Clint Enns
Deborah Stratman
Fern Silva
Jacob Bricca
Jaakko Pallasvuo
Jesse McLean
Kent Lambert
Laida Lertxundi
Lori Felker
Mary Helena Clark
Michael Robinson
Robert Todd
Sara Ludy
Stephanie Barber

w/ presentations by:
• Jesse Malmed (video L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetics + abstractedelia and participatory performance w/ conversational karaoke)
• Jon Cates & Jake Elliott (dirty new media multiple projector performance)

 

Much more information and materials to be released soon, so keep checking back.

Any questions? Comment here.

Logo and animated .gif by Will Thomas.

Audio by Simple A/V.

 

Share

Posted in animation & motion design, avant-garde, event, experimental film, film, new media art, video art, vision quest 2012
Comments Off

Star Spangled To Death (2004) by Ken Jacobs

4 July, 2012 by

“extrait 1”

“extrait 2”

“extrait 3”

2007, 400 minutes, 16mm & video, b/w & color, sound

According to google video, here are three “extraits” (French for ‘extract’) from Ken Jacobs’ 2004 epic, Star Spangled To Death. The original film is much longer than these three extraits. (If the second video has trouble loading, refresh the page.)

Happy Birthday, America.

  |* * * * * * * * * * OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO|
  | * * * * * * * * *  :::::::::::::::::::::::::|
  |* * * * * * * * * * OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO|
  | * * * * * * * * *  :::::::::::::::::::::::::|
  |* * * * * * * * * * OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO|
  | * * * * * * * * *  ::::::::::::::::::::;::::|
  |* * * * * * * * * * OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO|
  |:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|
  |OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO|
  |:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|
  |OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO|
  |:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|
  |OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO|

 

STAR SPANGLED TO DEATH is an epic film shot for hundreds of dollars! combining found-films with my own more-or-less staged filming, it pictures a stolen and dangerously sold-out America, allowing examples of popular culture to self-indict. Racial and religious insanity, monopolization of wealth and the purposeful dumbing down of citizens and addiction to war oppose a Beat playfulness.

A handful of artists costumed and performing unconvincingly appeal to audience imagination and understanding to complete the picture. Jack Smith’s pre-FLAMING CREATURES performance as The Spirit Not Of Life But Of Living (the movie has raggedly cosmic pretensions), celebrating Suffering (rattled impoverished artist Jerry Sims) at the crux of sentient existence, is a visitation of the divine.

— K.J.

Initially shot in 16-millimeter between 1957 and ’59, periodically expanded and updated over the following decades, and completed last year on video in a six-and-a-half-hour final version, Ken Jacobs’s magnum opus of political protest is made of the same basic ingredients as the rest of his oeuvre: beautifully shot scenes of cavorting friends and comrades (including Jerry Sims, a pre-Flaming Creatures Jack Smith, and some recent anti-Bush protesters) and found footage (including most of Nixon’s “Checkers” speech, campaign propaganda for Nelson Rockefeller, a fatuously racist documentary about Africa, and Al Jolson in blackface). Semi-indigestible by design, this nonetheless steadily builds in political and historical resonance. (read more)

— Jonathan Rosenbaum, THE CHICAGO READER

Finished—or perhaps abandoned—after nearly half a century of work, Ken Jacobs’s monumental, monstrous Star Spangled to Death receives its first ever theatrical run this week at Anthology Film Archives. The movie is a six-hour assemblage of found audio-visual material ranging from political campaign films to animated cartoons to children’s phonograph records, interwoven with gloriously eccentric original footage shot mainly on the streets (and in the dumps) of late-’50s New York. (read more)

— Jim Hoberman, VILLAGE VOICE




More:

Star Spangled To Death website

 

Share

Posted in avant-garde, film
Comments Off

2012 Onion City Film Festival & Schedule

22 June, 2012 by
Across and Down (2012) by Lori Felker

Across and Down (2012) by Lori Felker

Last night, the 2012 Onion City Film Festival opened at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Today through Saturday night, the Onion City Film Festival continues with screenings at Columbia College Chicago. If you’re in Chicago or the midwest, don’t miss this superlative programming event of avant-garde and experimental film and video.

$8 general for each screening at Columbia College (free for Columbia students, with ID). A five-show pass for the Columbia College screenings will be available for $25.

Below is a schedule for the 2012 Onion City Film Festival. The entire schedule was originally posted here.

(more…)

Share

Posted in avant-garde, experimental film, film, video art
Comments Off

Jonas Mekas: 365 Day Project at 2B Gallery

29 May, 2012 by

Exhibition
June 8th – July 6th 2012

Opening
June 8th 2012, 6 pm.

2B Gallery
Ráday utca 47. 1092-H, Budapest, Hungary (map)

“The non profit 2B Gallery needs your help. We are asking for financial support to fulfil Jonas Mekas solo show. The opening of the exhibition, in the presence of the artist, is scheduled for June 8, 2012 in Budapest, Hungary. Related to the one-month-long exhibition we organize a sound performance and film projections.”

Click here to support the illustrious Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project.

More on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project at 2B Gallery:

This exhibition focuses on Jonas Mekas’ 365 Day Project, a succession of films and videos in calendar form.1 Every day as of January 1st, 2007 and for an entire year, as indicated in the title, a large public (the artist’s friends, as well as unknowns) were invited to view a diary of short films of various lengths (from one to twenty minutes) on the Internet. A movie was posted each day, adding to the previously posted pieces. Jonas Mekas’ works were edited with Elle Burchill. Additional assistance was provided by Benn Northover, Pip Chodorov, Joseph Fusco and his son, Sebastian Mekas in collaboration with Stendhal Gallery and agnès b. This team effort resulted in approximately thirty-eight hours of moving images.

The central concept of the exhibition is the presentation of everyday practices and ‘living art’ which bring together the notion of empirical life (private and public) and the context of hypermedia, a relatively new situation for the artist. On the one hand, the genre of the film diary is a very long held and familiar strategy. Jonas Mekas captured moments of his life as well as those of his friends through writing and then photography, and eventually worked with a Bolex camera and then video and digital cameras. These recordings, collected over a number of decades up to the present day, are the sum of his archive and next to the ongoing daily recordings, provided a wealth of additional material for 365 Day Project. On the other hand, Jonas Mekas, a filmmaker from New York’s underground decided to choose the medium of the web, an area little-known to him before. The on-line form taken by 365 Day Project leans on the idea of ‘filmic ephemeris’ as the life events of Jonas Mekas shot on video are presented day by day on the Internet combining the calendar with the diary form. In this way, the films of the artist’s life become both intimate and ex-timate.

Mekas began to work with the internet at around the end of 2006 with the production of First 40, a series of 40 short films. This experience prepared him for the 365 Day Project. Although these two works circulated on the Internet, First 40 was presented in its installation form at the Stendhal Gallery2 and PS1 Contemporary Art Center3 in New York. 365 Day Project however, originally released on the web in 2007 was not shown in installation form until 2009 when the work was finally presented on 12 screens — each representing the 12 months of the year placed on plinths— at the Galerie du jour agnès b.4 in Paris.

At 2B gallery, the 12 screens will not take on a sculptural presentation but instead will follow the linearity of the film material. Presented on the walls, each monitor corresponds to a moment in Mekas’ life, while the screens together, construct an overall chronicle of the life of the artist. It is the spectators’ gaze which reconstructs the logic of the artists’ memory, the logic of time (chronology), and the (his)story of Jonas Mekas. We complete the installation with the projection of Sleepless Nights Stories (2011) and First 40 (2006) in the dark room of the gallery. — Anna Kerekes, curator

More:

2B Gallery

Kiss Kiss Bank Bank: 365 Day Project, solo show of Jonas Mekas

Jonas Mekas’ website

 

Share

Posted in avant-garde, event, film
Comments Off

Older Entries »