Monday, April 29, 2013

[HvEXAS] The Third Man free outdoor screening | Thurs May 9 at 8 PM | EMPAC, Troy, NY

SCREENING: SHADOW PLAY
The Third Man 
Directed by Carol Reed
Thursday, May 9, 2013, 8 PM
Outdoor screening
EMPAC, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
FREE



Shrouded in darkness, Carol Reed's classic film noir, The Third Man, follows pulp novelist Holly Martin as he unravels the circumstances behind his friend's death in Vienna, a situation that increasingly resembles a plot from one of his own novels. Starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, The Third Man won an Academy Award in 1951 for Robert Krasker's lush cinematography. Hailed as one of the greatest British films ever made, The Third Man combines wit with a sense of existential crisis, which is visually reinforced through the film's dramatic use of light and shadow.

 
One of the English cinema's best craftsmen, Sir Carol Reed distinguished his career from contemporaries Luis Buñuel and Alfred Hitchcock by considering himself an entertainer, not an artist. Director Michael Powell observed that Reed "could put a film together like a watchmaker puts together a watch." Reed was prolific over his 40-year career, and is best known for Odd Man Out (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948), The Third Man (1949), and Oliver! (1968). He won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for The Third Man in 1949 and the 1968 Academy Award for Best Director for Oliver!

Shadow Play is a series of films that tread nimbly between reality and illusion, acknowledging the artificial nature of cinema. Referencing the tradition of shadow puppetry, the origins of cinema in phantasmagoria, and Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," each film draws on the metaphors of light as reality and shadow as artifice.
 
In Plato's The Republic, the allegory of the cave illustrates the difference between truth and illusion. Many writers have noted that "Allegory of the Cave" (written c. 360 BCE) bears great resemblance to the contemporary movie theater.
 
This event is free and open to the public. In the case of inclement weather, the free screening will move indoors to the Theater.
 
Evelyn's Café will open at 7 PM with a full menu of meals, snacks, and beverages as well as a selection of wines. Service continues during the event. Parking is available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue.
 
More information can be found on the EMPAC website: empac.rpi.edu. Questions? Call the EMPAC Box Office: 518.276.3921.

EMPAC 2012-2013 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by continuous support from the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts. Additional project support by the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the New York State Council for the Arts; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Council Norway, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, and Fond for Utøvende Kunstner.

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY  12180

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

[HvEXAS] Ryoichi Kurokawa: syn_ | Fri May 3 at 8 PM | EMPAC, Troy, NY

PERFORMANCE
Ryoichi Kurokawa: syn_
Friday, May 3, 2013, 8 PM
EMPAC Studio 1 – Goodman
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
$18 general admission; $13 non-Rensselaer students, seniors, and Rensselaer faculty + staff; and $6 Rensselaer students

  
Ryoichi Kurokawa's audiovisual work syn_ obscures familiar everyday imagery with vibrating, impossibly detailed geometric constellations. Performed live on dual projection screens, his visuals are accompanied with clouds of sound that pulse in accord to construct a sensory experience of overwhelming energy.
 
Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa's works take multiple forms, including installations, recordings, and concert pieces. His audiovisual compositions bring visual and sonic materials together using a completely revolutionary perspective. His works have been shown at international festivals and museums including the Tate Modern (London), Venice Biennale, Transmediale (Berlin), and Sonar (Barcelona). In 2010, he was awarded the Golden Nica at Prix Ars Electronica in the Digital Music and Sound Art category. He lives and works in Berlin.

Ryoichi Kurokawa: http://www.ryoichikurokawa.com/
+ video+audio clip: http://vimeo.com/61347519
 
Tickets are $18 general admission; $13 non-Rensselaer students, seniors, and Rensselaer faculty + staff; and $6 Rensselaer students (must provide ID for discounted tickets).

Evelyn's Café will open at 7 PM with a full menu of meals, snacks, and beverages as well as a selection of wines. Service continues after the event. Parking is available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue.
 
More information can be found on the EMPAC website: empac.rpi.edu. Questions? Call the EMPAC Box Office: 518.276.3921.

EMPAC 2012-2013 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by continuous support from the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts. Additional project support by the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the New York State Council for the Arts; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Council Norway, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, and Fond for Utøvende Kunstner.

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY  12180

Friday, April 19, 2013

[HvEXAS] The Films of Laurie Anderson with special guest Pauline Oliveros | Thurs May 2, 5+8PM | EMPAC, Troy, NY

SCREENING + PERFORMANCE
The Films of Laurie Anderson
with special guest Pauline Oliveros
Thursday, May 2, 2013, 5+8PM
EMPAC Concert Hall
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
$6 each
http://empac.rpi.edu/events/2013/spring/films-laurie-anderson

An evening of film and video screenings with Laurie Anderson and special guest Pauline Oliveros


  
These back-to-back presentations will provide audiences with a unique opportunity to be fully immersed in Laurie Anderson's films and videos. She will lead us through two separate screening programs, including many of her works. The 8PM presentation will be capped off with a screening of a silent film to which Anderson and Pauline Oliveros play together.
 
One of America's most renowned performance artists, Laurie Anderson's genre-crossing work encompasses performance, film, music, installation, writing, photography, and sculpture. She is widely known for her multimedia presentations and musical recordings. She has had countless collaborations with an array of artists, from Jonathan Demme and Brian Eno to Bill T. Jones and Peter Gabriel. She has published six books, produced numerous videos, films, radio pieces, and original scores for dance and film. In 2007, she received the prestigious Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for her outstanding contribution to the arts. She lives in New York City. http://www.laurieanderson.com/
 
Pauline Oliveros' life as a composer, performer, and humanitarian is about opening her own and others' senses to the many facets of sound. Since the 1960s, she has profoundly influenced American music through her work with improvisation, meditation, electronic music, myth, and ritual. All of Oliveros' work emphasizes musicianship, attention strategies, and improvisational skills. Many credit her with being the founder of present day meditative music, and she has been celebrated worldwide. Sounding the Margins, a forty-year retrospective, was recently released in a six CD boxed set from Deep Listening. http://www.paulineoliveros.us/

+ Albany Times Union article on residency + Spring 2013 presentations: http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Laurie-Anderson-to-speak-at-EMPAC-as-part-of-her-4261470.php 

Tickets are $6 for each screening; to see both, tickets must be purchased separately for each.
 
Evelyn's Café will open at 4 PM with a full menu of meals, snacks, and beverages as well as a selection of wines. Service continues between and after the screenings. Parking is available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue.
 
More information can be found on the EMPAC website: empac.rpi.edu. Questions? Call the EMPAC Box Office: 518.276.3921.

EMPAC 2012-2013 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by continuous support from the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts. Additional project support by the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the New York State Council for the Arts; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Council Norway, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, and Fond for Utøvende Kunstner.

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY  12180

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

[HvEXAS] Marie Brassard: Trieste free multimedia theater performance | Sat Apr 27, 8 PM | EMPAC

PERFORMANCE
Marie Brassard: Trieste
Saturday, April 27, 2013, 8 PM
EMPAC Theater
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
FREE (reservations recommended)

Trieste: a contemporary fable inspired by the town of Trieste woven through movement, text, and video

 
Marie Brassard and Infrarouge, her Montreal-based theater company, will finish developing their latest work, Trieste, during an EMPAC production residency. Trieste is a contemporary fable inspired by the Italian city of the same name located on the Adriatic Sea.
 
The performance unfolds in five segments, each relating to one feature of Trieste: The Abyss, The Caves, The Sea, The Castles, and The Bora. As in the board game Snakes and Ladders, where destiny is randomly decided, protagonists climb or fall from one level to another through breaches in the storyline.
 
During their residency, the company will concentrate on the development of reactive video, light, and sound environments. The intention is to adapt stage technology to create an environment where each component behaves with a mix of accidental and planned responses to the actions of the performers.
 
After several years of collaboration with director Robert Lepage, actress, director, and author Marie Brassard decided to set up her own platform for creating work.
 
Since 2001, her Montreal-based company, Infrarouge, has created diverse and multidisciplinary works such as Jimmy (2001), The Darkness (2003), Peepshow (2005), The Glass Eye (2007), The Invisible (2008), and Me Talking to Myself in the Future (2010). In addition to the company's newest work Trieste, a dance solo for Sarah Williams entitled Moving in this World is in development. Infrarouge has presented work in several countries throughout Europe, the Americas, and in Australia.
 
Current collaborators include musicians and performance artists Jonathan Parant and Alexandre St-Onge, set designer Simon Guilbault, lighting designer Mikko Hynninen, filmmaker Karl Lemieux, and technical director Vincent Repentigny.

+ Infrarouge: http://infrarouge.org/
 
This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are recommended and can be made in person at the EMPAC Box Office or over the phone at 518.276.3921. Tickets will be available for pick-up starting at 6 PM the evening of the performance; they must be claimed by 7:45 PM or they will be released.

Evelyn's Café will open at 7 PM with a full menu of meals, snacks, and beverages as well as a selection of wines. Service continues after the event. Parking is available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue.
 
More information can be found on the EMPAC website: empac.rpi.edu. Questions? Call the EMPAC Box Office: 518.276.3921.

EMPAC 2012-2013 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by continuous support from the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts. Additional project support by the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the New York State Council for the Arts; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Council Norway, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, and Fond for Utøvende Kunstner.

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY  12180

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

[HvEXAS] Quay Brothers: Selections from Phantom Museums screening | Thurs April 18, 7:30 PM | EMPAC, Troy, NY

SCREENING: SHADOW PLAY
Quay Brothers: Selections from Phantom Museums
Thursday, April 18, 2013, 7:30 PM
EMPAC Theater
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
$6


Featuring selections from the Quay Brothers' compendium of short films, Phantom Museums spans their 30-year career. Renowned for their unparalleled contributions to the field of puppet film, identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay combine visual, literary, musical, and philosophical influences with a singular sensibility. Inspired by the films of Jan Svankmajer and Jiri Barta, the Quay Brothers bring together the quaintness and delicacy of early animation with painstakingly hand assembled sets in their films.

Identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay are Philadelphia-born, London-based masters of stop-motion puppet animation and live-action film. Collaborating since 1969, their work has been deeply influential in the field of puppet film. They attended art school together at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and at the Royal College of Art in London in the late 1960s. After moving to London, they made their first short animated films: Der der Loop LoopIl Duetto; and Palace in Flames. Their most famous film, Street of Crocodiles (1986), is a 21-minute animation based on a short novel by Bruno Schulz.
 
The work of the Quay Brothers has also appeared in advertising and music videos, most notably the music video for Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. The Brothers Quay are the recipients of the 1998 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design for their work on the play The Chairs. Stephen and Timothy Quay are both professors of animated film at the European Graduate School in Switzerland.

+ excerpt from Street of Crocodiles (1986): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNOfsJz4TjA

Shadow Play is a series of films that tread nimbly between reality and illusion, acknowledging the artificial nature of cinema. Referencing the tradition of shadow puppetry, the origins of cinema in phantasmagoria, and Plato's "Allegory of the Cave," each film draws on the metaphors of light as reality and shadow as artifice.
 
In Plato's The Republic, the allegory of the cave illustrates the difference between truth and illusion. Many writers have noted that "Allegory of the Cave" (written c. 360 BCE) bears great resemblance to the contemporary movie theater.
 
Tickets for this screening are $6.
 
Evelyn's Café will open at 6:30 PM with a full menu of meals, snacks, and beverages as well as a selection of wines. Parking is available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue.
 
More information can be found on the EMPAC website: empac.rpi.edu. Questions? Call the EMPAC Box Office: 518.276.3921.

EMPAC 2012-2013 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by continuous support from the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts. Additional project support by the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the New York State Council for the Arts; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Council Norway, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, and Fond for Utøvende Kunstner.

---

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY  12180