Media Arts Preview: Site-Specific Screenings, Sing-Alongs & More
Films and videos are showing up in odd places around LA this week - on rooftops and in parking lots - and are the focus of lectures, discussions and even sing-alongs...
Thursday, July 28
LACMA is hosting another free screening of artist Christian Marclay's 24-hour film, The Clock, starting tonight at 5:00 p.m. The amazing film gathers together thousands of clips showing clocks and watches, as well as images of characters responding to the demands and urgency of time, all of them culled from existing movies and TV shows.
Join Zach Blas and Christopher O'Leary, the curators of Speculative, a group exhibition currently on view at LACE for a conversation with artists and theorists Jordan Crandall, Judith "Jack" Halberstam and Rita Raley, along with Speculative artists Jeff Cain, Micha Cardenas and Michael Kontopoulos. The talk starts at 7:00 p.m., and the exhibition, which "focuses on new modes of art making and of presentation with an emphasis on the experiential, subversive and tactical potentials for art in the 21st century," will be on view through August 28, 2011.
The Getty's Glenn Phillips will lecture tonight at 7:00 p.m. on video art in Japan at Christopher Grimes Gallery in Santa Monica as part of the ongoing Super 8 show.
Gagosian Gallery Beverly Hills is presenting a series of outdoor screenings of rarely seen films and videos on the gallery's rooftop and in the parking lot. Tonight's screening features a two-minute looping animation titled Double Location (The Ambassador Hotel) by Karina Nimmerfall (with cocktails on the roof), followed by the 16mm film Premium from 1971 by Ed Ruscha out in the parking lot.
The Japanese American National Museum downtown presents Summer Classic Anime Film Series (Part 2), featuring vintage anime films from the 1920s and 1930s, the Golden Age of Japanese silent film, tonight at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 30
Chinatown hosts the third iteration of Perform Chinatown Performance Art Festival, with nearly 40 performances in and outside the galleries of Chinatown. Organized by Lee Lynch and Tom Jancar, the event takes place all day, through midnight. There's a schedule here,but one of the highlights has to be the arm wrestling championship at Actual Size, featuring music by Sayre Gomez.
Sunday, July 31
Vidiots, dubbed by many the best video store in LA, is hosting courses for film lovers, as well as events that bring people together around great movies. Tonight, join other rock opera lovers for a Jesus Christ Superstar sing-along, with refreshments. It starts at 5:30 p.m. RSVP to cschoenwald@sbcglobal.net.
Los Angeles Filmforum presents Sing It Out Loud! Films by Jodie Mack tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Spielberg Theater at the Egyptian. The animator, who earned her MFA in film, video and new media from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently teaches at Dartmouth, is known for her hand-crafted films; the show will include recent work and live music.
Monday, August 1
Film critic Stephen Farber hosts Reel Talk,an ongoing series of screenings of new film releases, followed by a discussion with the film's stars and makers. This week's pick is The Whistleblower, a political thriller inspired by true events starting Rachel Weisz. Guest speakers for tonight's screening, which starts at 7:00 p.m. at the Landmark Theater in West LA, are writer/director Larysa Kondracki and co-writer Eilis Kirwan.
Tuesday, August 2
The Flux Screening Series at the Hammer Museum will feature the world premiere of N.A.S.A.'s film The Spirit of Apollo, which documents the collaboration of Squeak E. Clean (Sam Spiegel) and Zegon (Ze Gonzales) that resulted in N.A.S.A.'s debut album. The film also features the amazing videos for the album by artists such as Syd Garon, Logan, Marcel Dzama and more. Flux will also screen new work by Spike Jonze, and host an after party in the Hammer Courtyard. The box office opens at 7:00 p.m., the screening and presentations start at 8:00 p.m., and the party starts at 9:30 p.m. The event is free, but the organizers ask that you RSVP.
