Cinema Arts Series
Reflections: Material and Metaphor
Saturdays, July 18, July 25, August 1, and August 8, 2009
In conjunction with the exhibition Reflections

All we know for sure is that light always carries information in the form of images. And reflections, in some fashion, always mirror those images. The Exploratorium’s Cinema Art Series, Reflections: Material and Metaphor, explores the startling possibilities through film. This series is offered in conjunction with the exhibition Reflections, on view at the Exploratorium throughout Summer 2009. All events are included in the price of admission to the Exploratorium. The schedule in July and August is as follows:

Saturday, July 18, 2009
Seeing the City
Noon, 2pm & 4pm
Seeing the City is the first of a four-part series that explores both our physical and psychological worlds with a special lens on light and reflection, culminating in a multiple projection performance using mirrors and other reflective surfaces. Today, we present short films that study the world reflected in the structures and architecture of San Francisco.

Recamera (2008, 3 min.), by Rosario Sotelo, elegantly depicts ephemeral fragments of the city projected through a pinhole camera onto the walls of the artist’s apartment.

Visions of a City (1978, 8 min.) was originally shot in 1957 and edited in 1978 by Lawrence Jordan. A man emerges from reflections on shop and car windows, bottles, mirrors, and more in this portrait of both San Francisco and celebrated local poet Michael McClure.

Suspended 2 (2005, 5 min.), by Amy Hicks, presents a series of abstracted drives across the Bay Bridge evoking technical drawings and futuristic space travel.

Untitled (2009, 5 min.), a premiere by Michael Rudnick, captures the reverberating, choreographed flow of clouds, fog, and sky as these natural elements reflect off of San Francisco roof top.

Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Inverted Lens
Noon, 2pm & 4pm
Our minds reveal as much about our emotions as mirrors reveal about our appearances. This collection highlights the way we see ourselves on the inside.

Contemplando la Ciudad (2005, 4 min.), by Angela Reginato, follows the complex emotional changes seen in a young woman spending time alone.

My Name is Oona (1969, 9 min.), by Gunvor Nelson, is a beautiful black-and-white experimental work inviting us to consider memory and identity.

Kyrstallancht (1979, 7 min.), by Chick Strand, uses the metaphor of reflected light and meditative sounds to capture the endurance and hope of the human spirit.

CH3CH2OH (2007, 5 min.), by Yin-Ju Chen, interweaves memories of two women who reveal their life’s struggles with alcohol abuse. Carefully constructed from found sound tracks and beautifully rendered black-and-white images, this short film explores the fragility of the human soul.

Saturday, August 1, 2009
Mind and Memory
Noon, 2pm & 4pm
The Even More Fun Trip (2007, 21 min.), by Bob Sabiston, looks back at a day at an amusement park with friends through animation evoking the ways our past is colored through memory.

Fifty Years Later (2006, 3 min.), by Matt McCormick, retraces the lonesome road to a now-defunct tourist attraction. Viewing the park now brings echoes of its former life, captured eternally by a home movie.

Last Thoughts (2009, 5 min.), by Paul Burke, takes a trip into the final thoughts of a dying man. Using small flashes of sequences shot in the Bay Area we are offered a glimpse at our bridge to the next life.

Saturday, August 8, 2009
Light Leaks
2pm

This manic performance strips reflection to its base element: light. Live music accompanies multiple projectors as they scour the darkness of the auditorium, bouncing and playing off all manner of mirrors and other reflective surfaces.