Film Screenings / Programs / Series
IMAGELESS FILMS, PART 5
September 10 – September 29
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. The ongoing series, “Imageless Films”, which we’ve been presenting since April, 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).
With the September chapter, we bring the series to a close – and in high style, thanks to rare screenings of Gregory Markopoulos’s GAMMELION; a program featuring works that directly address the audience and/or projectionist (including Morgan Fisher’s PROJECTION INSTRUCTIONS and Hollis Frampton’s A LECTURE); a screening in which we’ll share some of the most memorable voicemail messages we’ve received over the years at Anthology; and several live-performance pieces, including Malcolm Le Grice’s PRE-PRODUCTION and a work designed specifically for the Maya Deren theater by Bradley Eros (MAYA). This final chapter will also bring the publication of a booklet featuring the complete program notes and a selection of related texts.
Programmed by Jed Rapfogel, in collaboration with Bradley Eros and John Klacsmann. Special thanks to Elle Burchill & Andrea Monti (Microscope Gallery); Olivier Marboeuf (Spectre Productions); and Jeff Perkins.
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/
