Screening tonight, October 14th, 8pm, Brooklyn!
The passing of Bruce Conner in July of this year allowed for reflection on his influence, which proves substantial and pervasive as we continue through the first years of the 21st century. In the expansion of American experimental filmmaking in the 1950s and 60s, Conner pushed the emerging practice of re-editing found footage to new heights of wit and profundity with films like A Movie (1958), Cosmic Ray (1962) and Report (1967), continuing his mastery of the idiom in subsequent years with works such as Crossroads (1976), which will undoubtedly stand as one of the definitive artistic statements of the nuclear age. Alongside Kenneth Anger and Andy Warhol, Conner also served as one of the major innovators in conjoining art and pop music, making Breakaway (1966) with then-girl-group singer Toni Basil, and collaborating with Devo, David Byrne and Brian Eno. Today, Conner’s accomplishments reverberate throughout contemporary creative culture, from the popular practice of internet mash-ups to the predominance of found-footage re-use in today’s 16mm filmmaking, assemblage and collage in gallery spaces, and media remixing in the electronic arts.
To honor his legacy, Light Industry invited an intergenerational roster of 25 artists from multiple disciplines to create and present works inspired by and in tribute of Conner. Participating artists: Peggy Ahwesh, Animal Charm, Craig Baldwin, Stephanie Barber, Dara Birnbaum, Roger Beebe, John Michael Boling, Bryan Boyce, Martha Colburn, Bradley Eros, Kevin Everson, Ernie Gehr, Michael Gitlin and Jacqueline Goss, Ken Jacobs, Kent Lambert, Oliver Laric, Jeanne Liotta, Eileen Maxson, Jenny Perlin, Luther Price, Michael Robinson, Keith Sanborn, Sylvia Schedelbauer, Deborah Stratman, Aaron Valdez
Tickets - $6, available at door. Part of the evening’s proceeds will go to benefit Anthology Film Archives’s preservation of Bruce Conner’s films.
Video I made for my work’s contribution to Parking Day 2008 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Installation by Corey Petrick for Dot&Cross. Music from Atardecer by Friends of Dean Martinez. More info at parkingday.org/
A little video I made around the Park(ing) Day festivities last week in Grand Rapids. Installation by Jason Murray.
