New York Experimental November 19, 2006

New York Experimental
The Tank's Monthly Experimental Film + Video Screening Series
Sunday - November 19 - 6:00 PM - $5.00
The Tank
279 Church Street
New York, NY 10013
212.563.6269
www.thetanknyc.org

An evening of experimental films from around the globe, with scenes ranging from dancing plants and Norwegian forests to glimpses of autumn and meditations on industrial and emotional landscapes. This diverse program presents the world of organics, as reflected in seasonal changes and quirky botanical narratives, in contrast with representations of the contrived existence of urban life and the cult of theatricality. Each work, using unique devices, presents an intimate glimpse of a particular mental or physical space.

Featuring works by Yun Kim (US), Minou Norouzi (UK), Shanna Maurizi (US), Paul Masters (UK), Tina Willgren (NO), Rachel Urkowitz + Lisa Oppenheim (US), Gad Hollander (UK), Chris Lynn (US), and Rafaël (ES).

SCREENING PROGRAM:

I Get High (Because I'm Afraid of his Low) (2006), Yun Kim (US), TRT: 14:00 min
A sci-fi trip (in both senses of the word). A report - a color coded dialogue- between agents, cursed by the ignorance of the greater mission of becoming the perfect man.

Story of Lovers on a Train (2000/2006) Gad Hollander (UK) TRT: 02:43
The predominant image of this work is a night-time view of a landscape shot through a train window. A series of inter-titles and a selection of cutaway shots from various sources combine to create the “story” of the title. A different set of inter-titles over the same image-sequence would produce a different story; conversely, the same inter-titles superimposed on another sequence of images would give us virtually the same “story” but in a different setting. Either way, the story is neither explicitly seen nor told but is a construct of our imagination that takes place off-camera and between the lines. What we see, hear and read is a collection of audio-visual elements rhythmically edited to suggest a plausible drama – a passion, a romance, a tragedy or even a farce. Most of the footage was shot on DV in eastern Europe in the spring of 2000. The rest was shot on out-of-date B&W Super-8 stock as well as on DV in various locations including Moscow, London & Israel.

Landscape: Harbor Pier 309 (2000), Shanna Maurizi (US), TRT: 02:30 min
A hand-processed and colored film made by Maurizi while an Artist in Residence at Stichting Kunst and Complex in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It is an impression of the immediate surroundings of her studio, located in one of the largest ports in the world. Animal skins, fruit, furniture; objects from all over the globe move through via heavy machinery each day. On the days the port is closed, vast pieces and expanses of sand become a strange landscape, inhabited by junkies, prostitutes, and the homeless. All audio was recorded on site as ambient sound.

The World of Plants (2004), Rachel Urkowitz and Lisa Oppenheim (US), TRT: 03:00 min, color, sound, 18mm and 8mm transferred to DVD
A non-music video of sorts, “The World of Plants” was shot in the greenhouse of the same name during the NY Botanical Garden Orchid Show. The sound was recorded at the Winter Garden mall in the World Financial Center. The disparate sound and image sources provoke an examination of nature as contained and contextualized within highly developed commercial and cultural spaces.

Autumn Movement 1 (2005), Chris Lynn (US), TRT: 6:00 min
Leaves turn and collide in water, and a soccer game is played against the last light.

Imago (2006), Minou Norouzi (UK), TRT: 07:47 min
Conceived from a hypothesis that ones favorite line from a movie exhibits the essence of a person's ideal, passion, conviction, or sense of self. Imago maps a series of frozen moments in the Los Angeles acting community. Each actor is seen in their day job delivering their favorite line from a movie, mapping the day to day architectural space where desire is incubated.

Wood Report (2006,) Tina Willgren (NO), TRT: 01:57 min
A video based on the structure of television news; using camera movements, graphics and a jingle, to highlight the content: events taking place in the Nacka Reserve, Stockholm, during May 2006. In Sweden, the forest is regarded, among other things, as a quiet and recreational place. It is possible to say that "nothing happened" after a visit there, although the situation and environment contains sensuous information (i.e. wind in the trees, running water, humming birds and insects). "Wood Report" combines this sensual experience with that of watching the news, a ritual in which we gain knowledge of the world. Willgren is interested in how reality is explained through the media and the possibility of how the formal structure of such television programming in turn affects the way in which our surroundings are perceived.

Black Love (2005), Gad Hollander (UK), TRT: 16:00 min
.. but don’t be surprised, my feuding friend, my enemy, seized by black love, if the groans of love will be the groans of torture, kisses – tinged with blood. Nikolay Gumilyov (tr. Richard McKane) A video rendition of Hollander's prose-poem of the same name (published in Shearsman, issue no. 63-64, Exeter 2005). It is an attempt to make a black film without reverting to the simplistic device of a black (blank) screen by using images that invoke their own erasure. The voice-over was recorded at 291 Gallery (London) in 2004. The video was shot in various locations over a number of years, using black & white Super-8 stock and DV. The work was produced and edited in the UK in 2005.

The Witch (2004), Rafael (ES), TRT: 03:00 min
A short journey into the mysterious world of house plants, and the language they speak.

Dancing Plants (2004), Paul Masters (UK), TRT: 06:23 min
A sensory experience that incorporates an intriguing and bizarre combination of choreographed plants and popular music. It is entertaining and appeals to a wide audience through a language of popular culture, exploring themes around the nature of the mental image. The original idea came from listening to a 1982 Patrick Cowley remix of Donna Summer's 'I feel Love'. This theatrical and humorous interplay between imagery and sound transforms an object of nature into something that eludes reality.

If you would like more information on New York Experimental programming or are interested in submmitting your work for consideration, please contact Susan Agliata at [email protected].

*Don't forget to mark your calendar for upcoming New York Experimental programming:

December 17: Bill Brand: Selected Works and Installation (http://www.bboptics.com)

January 17: Erika Yeomans: Selected Works and Installation (http://www.fortherestofyournaturallifeproductions.com)

February 21: Moira Tierney: Selected Works (http://www.moiratierney.net)

March 24: Volatile Works Collective does NY! Live in person from Montreal! (http://www.volatileworks.org)

Official Website: http://www.thetanknyc.org