Highlights: Performa 09 (NYC, USA) Part 2

Nils Bech and Lina Viste Groenli
Performance Project @ University Settlement
184 Eldridge Street
Sunday, November 8 7:15pm

[singlepic id=215 w= h= float=]Performing on a set designed by Lina Viste Groenli, Nils Bech will combine sparse acapella versions of contemporary and classical music and well-crafted electronica in a conceptual stage show laced with cabaret and contemporary dance, in collaboration with saxofonist Bendik Giske.

Nils Bech is a classically trained singer with a focus on performance. An integral part of the Norwegian art and music scenes, he has taken part in exhibitions in New York, Zürich, Basel, Berlin, London, Vienna, and Oslo, as well as performing with his own band, Nils Bech.

Lina Viste Groenli (b. Oslo, Norway, 1976) creates objects that delve into the dilemmas and discrepancies of semiotics. She graduated from the National Academy of Fine Art in 2003 and in 2005 participated in a residency at IASPAS, Stockholm. She has shown extensively throughout Europe as well as in the United States and Japan, including exhibitions at Alagon Gallery, Chicago, Gaudel de Stampa, Paris, Galerie Micky Schubert, Berlin, Unge Kunstneres Samfund, Oslo and the Mukojima Expo, Tokyo.

The Futurist Canon
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue
Tuesday, November 3 – Monday, November 9, 7:00pm

[singlepic id=217 w= h= float=]The only surviving feature-length Futurist film, Thais (1917), a seemingly conventional Italian “diva” picture that builds to a wildly experimental final sequence, with visionary set designs by Futurist painter Enrico Prampolini, will be shown with two Italian “city symphony” films–Speed (1930), made by Futurist painter Pippo Oriani and Futurist writers Tina Cordero and Guido Martina, and Stramilano (1929), which shows a day in the life of Milan.

MON NOV. 9th SCREENING ONLY: a special introduction by scholar of Italian avant-garde movements JOHN PICCHIONE!

FILM DETAILS

Speed (Velocita)
Dir. Tina Cordero, Guido Martina, and Pippo Oriani, Italy, 1930
B&W, silent, 13 min
One of the only Futurist films still existing, Speed captures the dynamics of the city, with rotating views, whistling machines, articulated mannequins, and homages to twentieth-century artists such as Boccioni, Mondrian, Leger, and Kandinsky, all rhythmically collaged together by Futurist painter Oriani in collaboration with Futurist writers Cordero and Martina.

Stramilano
Dir. Corrado D’Errico, Italy, 1929
B&W, sound, 14 min
A vibrant “city symphony” showing a day in the life of Milan, from factories to farmers’ markets, skyscrapers, nightclubs, and beyond, with sound effects of human voices and machines. Although not officially “Futurist,” this film is directly related to Futurist ideas and works such as ‘Speed.’

Thaïs
Dir. Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Italy, 1917
B&W, silent, 25 min (incomplete)

A seemingly conventional Italian “diva” picture that builds to a wildly experimental ending, ‘Thais’ is considered to be the only surviving full-length Futurist film. In it, the title character plots to seduce her best friend’s crush, and the melodramatic chain of events that ensues leads to a Futuristic final sequence, shot against the visionary set designs of Futurist painter Enrico Prampolini.

Total running time: 52 min

Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder
Light Industry
220 36th Street, 5th floor, Brooklyn
Tuesday, November 10 7:30pm

[singlepic id=216 w= h= float=]This team of artists uses the technology of 16mm projection as a mode of performance, deploying machinery, celluloid, and light to create expressive audio-visual experiences in time.

Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder have shown their collaborative film installations and performances at film festivals, museums, galleries, and alternative venues since 2001. They have exhibited their work at the Whitney Museum of American Art (NYC), The Kitchen (NYC), Robert Beck Memorial Cinema (NYC), Mighty Robot (Brooklyn, NY), Hallwalls Contemporary Arts (Buffalo, NY), Images Festival (Toronto, Canada), PDX (Portland, OR), Berks Filmmakers (Reading, PA), Pittsburgh Filmmakers (PA), Janalyn Hanson White Gallery (Cedar Rapids, IA), Collectif Jeune Cinema (Paris, France), International Film Festival Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Hartware Medien Kunst Verein (Dortmund, Germany), La Casa Encendida (Madrid, Spain), Museo do Chiado – National Museum of Contemporary Art (Lisbon, Portugal), Dundee Contemporary Arts (Dundee, Scotland), Youkobo Art Space (Tokyo, Japan), and the Image Forum Festival (Yokohama & Kanazawa, Japan).