Film Screenings / Programs / Series
IMAGELESS FILMS, PART 4
July 10 – July 27
If there’s one central element that would seem to be intrinsic and indispensable to any reasonable definition of the cinema it would be the presence of imagery, whether photographed, animated, or generated through more experimental methods such as hand-painting, scratching, collaging, and so on. Nevertheless, throughout the history of the medium, artists have challenged even this seemingly core tenet of the art form by producing works that subvert or entirely dispense with the image, by expanding the definition of the kinds of experience that can be shared within the space of the cinema, or by provocatively defining as “cinema” performances that might seem a thing apart.
These subversions of the idea of a medium of “moving images” have taken many forms: works that emphasize spoken dialogue or sound collages; films whose visual tracks consist primarily of written text; projector performances that showcase or manipulate light and darkness; flicker films; pure color studies; films that punctuate long stretches of darkness with near-subliminal bursts of imagery; and so on and so forth.
This ongoing series represents an extended, in-depth, and multi-chapter exploration of the various ways that filmmakers and artists have experimented with the possibilities of an “imageless” cinema (or have played with the idea of “emptiness” or visual subtraction in a more general sense). The series began in April, and continues throughout the summer: Part 4 features a rare presentation of artist Louise Lawler’s A MOVIE WILL BE SHOWN WITHOUT THE PICTURE; programs devoted to “audioscapes” and “scratch films”; and two programs focusing on films that limit their visual tracks to the printed word.
In addition, Microscope Gallery will participate by presenting a number of expanded cinema works or pieces that are specially designed for a gallery space; for more info visit: https://microscopegallery.com/
Programmed by Jed Rapfogel, in collaboration with Bradley Eros and John Klacsmann. Special thanks to Elle Burchill & Andrea Monti (Microscope Gallery); Rebecca Cleman, Tyler Maxin, and Karl McCool (Electronic Arts Intermix); Gabriel Coxhead; Olivier De Vos (Auguste Orts); Martha Fleming-Ives (Greene Naftali Gallery); Tim Haines; John Knight; Louise Lawler; Malcolm Le Grice; Charmaine Lee; Andreas Leventis (Lisson Gallery); Seth Mitter (Canyon Cinema); Ryan Muller (Sprüth Magers); Kenneth Pietrobono; Charlotte Procter (LUX); Peter Rose; Keith Sanborn; Michael Snow; Katie Trainor (MoMA); and Mark Webber.
