16mm Projection Performance and Shorts Program introduced by media scholar and program curator Mal Ahern

For the first 100 years of its existence, cinema required two things: a ribbon of celluloid film, and a device for putting that film strip into motion. Typically the film strip and the projector work invisibly, coming to our attention only in moments of breakdown or human error. But throughout the 20th century, many artists and filmmakers have looked to cinema’s technical and material bases for artistic inspiration. This program of experimental shorts finds beauty in the materiality of the film strip and the workings of the projector, from frame-by-frame animation and “flicker” effects to live projection performance and double screen projection. “Flicker” film artists built films frame-by-frame to produce strobe effects and probe the boundaries of animation. Media historian Mal Ahern will introduce the films, providing context on concurrent developments in film technology.

Program:

Projection Instructions (dir. Morgan Fisher, 1976, b&w, sound, 16mm, 4 min)
Shutter Interface (dir. Paul Sharits, 1975, color, sound, 2 x 16mm, 24 min)
Certaines Observations (dir. Rose Lowder, 1979, b&w, silent, 2 x 16mm, 14 min)
Blazes (dir. Robert Breer, 1961, color, sound, 16mm, 3 min)
Fuji (dir. Robert Breer, 1974, color, sound, 16mm, 8 min)
Standard Gauge (dir. Morgan Fisher, 1984, sound, 16mm, 34 min)

Join us again at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20 for a screening of four bonus "Flicker" films.

This series is made possible by the Department of Art, the Film and Media Studies Program and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Programmed by Lindsey Lodhie