LIMITED ENGAGEMENT (NOV ONLY)

Animations and videos of wilting plants among debris. Hybrid sculptures reminiscent of vehicles and measuring devices, as well as shelters or craters within damaged landscapes.

There is sand everywhere, visible or invisible: in the concrete walls, in the optical equipment, in the phone, in the landfill. The movements of the animated flowers flicker and accelerate. In between the images, there is nothing but emptiness, a mental absence.

In video footage, withering plants appear in a rotating installation that spins at different speeds. The arrangement circles mechanically through light and shadow, faster and faster until it becomes vague, leaving fleeting expressions of a fading time and space and fusing reality with desolation. The sculptures in the installation speak to a standstill of the status quo.

By Jim Ferguson. Color video. A short documentary that features Elaine Equi, who discusses her personal relationship to poetry and her commitment to enlarge the audience for poetry. Also features Jerome Sala.

“The Space Cadets” by Heather McAdams. B&W film. A comic short about space cadets training in a space academy. It was made using various audio and film clips from old newsreels, and movies.

‘Hard Bargain” by Michael Pack. Color film. The story of an old fashioned fabric store owner and two street thugs looking for a quick break. The thugs end up robbing the old man and tragedy ensues.

An experimental adaptation of winnie the pooh exploring mundane queerness, friendship and lingering.

I categorize this video as playground absurdism which is a term I created to describe my feature film work. It is an approach to filmmaking that is rooted in absurdist ideology and harnessed using the ethos of a child. Masked with silly plots and characters, time serves as a vessel for exploration of the imperfections, people and spaces I hold dear.

Ant Farm promotes their ideas for inflatable living and demonstrates how to construct inflatables using basic materials.

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT (OCT ONLY)

Dawn (25, dirty little imp, roaring hair) has troublesome sex with her lover and childhood friend Mike (25, dark fur, trans). They tumble in and out of dissonance by playing a game from their childhood. Runtime: 7 minutes, 22 seconds.

Director Statement
“AN ENTIRE ROOM IS OPENED BY PARTICULAR FEELINGS THAT SAY YOU’RE ON THE EDGE OF THE SPACE.” – Eileen Myles

Footage was shot on June 28, 2021, and records the various actions that build to a single performance. The work dialogues with the performance for camera tradition, but it is clearly edited and narratively stylized. There is no direct audience. The main recorded action is artist Laura Paolini sitting on bags of ice for several hours while they melt under her weight and temperature. A rudimentary microphone and speaker set up transmits noises from the hallway into her performance space. Runtime: 24 minutes, 29 seconds.

“Life is a Saxophone” by Saundra Sharp (now called S. Pearl Sharp). Color film. Performances by and interviews with African-American poet Kamau Daa’ood. Runtime: 9 minutes, 53 seconds

312-VANDAL is a feature length documentary that focuses on four prominent Chicago street artists. Runtime: 1 hour, 8 minutes 41 seconds

“The Glass” by Doug Hall. A boy wearing sunglasses stands in front of a white wall and waves his hand above a wine glass to create sound even though he is not actually touching the glass. After a moment of this, the glass shatters. Runtime: 2 minutes, 08 seconds

As the filmmaker pursues a creative career, she goes looking for others in a similar position to explore what that decision entails. Mixing experimental film and documentary, the work deals with the real and imaginary boundaries of creativity.

“Ladykiller” by Meredith Anthony. Color film. A serial killer is on the loose and a young woman is walking around at night alone. Starring Melissa Leo and Joe Silver. Runtime: 13 minutes, 42 seconds

“Cheat-U-Fair” by Columbia College Visual Production Seminar Class (Carl German, Thomas Phillips, Bruce Real, Scott Rosenthal, Marsha Rudak, Bob Schordje, and Al Stoncius; instructor, Jim Passin). Color video. A day in the life of Maxwell Street in summer 1980. Runtime: 13 minutes, 5 seconds.

Gabriella’s mother suffered a stroke that left her half-paralyzed and unable to care for herself in the country where she immigrated. For the last ten years, Gabriella has been mostly unable to leave her home. Routine Seasons explores how the love and sacrifice we offer others and impose onto ourselves can evolve into guilt and resentment. Paul Ballerini enters this house alone and creates a piece that explores, using in-camera techniques, the hidden experiences in this home and how reality can be perceived by the individuals living it. Distorted viewpoints, the passing of seasons, politics, the juxtaposition of public and private space and a filmmaker's obsession all converge to dissect the family’s predicament.

A multi-media artist takes the viewer on a “tour” of Dallas’s marginal suburbs, seeking out hidden treasures amongst the city’s architectural ruins and "trash." Runtime: 14 minutes.

“Secret Horror” by Michael Smith. Color video. A bizarre comedic short/experimental video in which a man is haunted by sheet-wearing ghosts and a blue-glowing drop ceiling. Narrated by Eric Bogosian. Runtime: 13 minutes, 25 seconds.