Film Love and Atlanta Contemporary Art Center present:
Zoom
Two classics of cinematography from the avant-garde
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| The camera moves inexorably toward its destination in Michael Snow’s Wavelength | ||
Friday, March 1, 2013
8:00 pm at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
$8 general | $5 student/senior | Free with
ACAC membership
The late-1960s conjunction between film and visual art profoundly impacted the
way films were made and seen. Artists made movies that explored the process of
viewing, the apparatus of the camera, and the nature of the cinematic
experience. The best of these works are compelling viewing experiences that
still feel radical today. Film Love presents two of the most celebrated works
from this fascinating moment in cinema history, in their original format of 16mm
film.
Few films in the avant-garde have generated as much comment, controversy, and
awe as Michael Snow’s Wavelength. The film takes place entirely in a
single room in a New York loft. Over the course of the film, the camera slowly
zooms in from the widest setting (the entire room) to the narrowest (an
enigmatic photo on the opposite wall). Wavelength’s reputation as a
“45-minute zoom shot” contrasts wildly with the actual experience of watching
it: Snow uses different film stocks, color filters, layers of superimposition
and combinations of natural and artificial light at different times of day to
create a visually rich, unforgettable work. Paradoxically, as the zoom narrows
our view of the room, the film opens up profound philosophical ideas and
challenges.
Like Wavelength, the film Serene Velocity permanently established
the reputation of its director, takes place in a single space (in this case, a
non-descript institutional hallway) and structures itself around the use of the
zoom lens. But the two films are as different as could be imagined. Where
Wavelength progresses smoothly from the widest view to the narrowest,
Serene Velocity begins in the middle and gradually moves in both directions,
cutting back and forth between different focal lengths several times a second.
Writing in the Village Voice, J. Hoberman called the result a
"piston-powered mandala…[of] stunning head-on motion." The film’s entrancing,
hyperkinetic visuals transform not only the space onscreen, but the very space
in which we watch the film. Serene Velocity is accompanied by Morning,
in which Ernie Gehr documents the dawning of a new day – and simultaneously
reminds us of how the camera captures light.
Wavelength (Michael Snow, 1967) 45 min, 16mm
Serene Velocity (Ernie Gehr, 1970) 23 min, 16mm
Morning (Ernie Gehr, 1968) 5 min, 16mm
The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center
535 Means Street NW
Atlanta, GA, 30318
404.688.1970
http://www.thecontemporary.org/
ZOOM is a Film Love event, programmed and hosted by
Andy Ditzler for Frequent Small Meals. Film Love promotes awareness of the rich
history of experimental and avant-garde film. Through public screenings and
events, Film Love preserves the communal viewing experience, provides space for
the discussion of film as art, and explores alternative forms of moving image
projection and viewing. Film Love was voted Best Film Series in Atlanta by the
critics of Creative Loafing in 2006, and was featured in Atlanta Magazine's Best
of Atlanta 2009.
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| Two views of the mysterious hallway in Ernie Gehr’s Serene Velocity |