The 1981 performance Circle and Square by Takahiko Iimura, New York-based Japanese film and video pioneer, evolved from the artist's interest in exposing the apparatus of projection and the materiality of image and light begun in the mid-60s. The work commences with the projection of a long loop of black 16mm film leader suspended from the ceiling. The artist punches a hole on the film's surface and as it loops through the projector's gate, a single white circle of light pierces the darkness. With each subsequent punch the film builds before the viewer’s eyes into a cascade of white circles before reaching its abrupt and revelatory conclusion.
Joel Schlemowitz’s new performance Kannon, Goddess of Mercy unifies various techniques, instruments, and arcane interests of the artist’s twenty-year practice into a single work. Schlemowitz generates anaglyph 3D imagery in real time through the superimposition of images from two overhead projectors, while performing a 78rpm soundtrack on the Victrola. The imagery is culled from ancient Chinese joss paper, tarots, and star charts portraying the Goddess Kannon as she enters the red chamber to observe the different phases of the moon.
"Dreamlands: Expanded" is a series of expanded cinema events organized by Microscope Gallery in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art as part of the exhibition "Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art, 1905-2016"
Leading Underwriting Support Provided by the Robert D. Bielecki Foundation. Generous Support provided by J.J. Kasper, Paul Jost, and Natasha Reatig. This presentation is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council of the Arts' Electronic Media & Film Presentation Funds grant program, administered by The ARTS Council of the Souther Finger Lakes. Microscope Gallery Event Series is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC). Additional Support provided by Knockdown Center and Negativland. Sponsored by Colorlab and The Bodega. Official Media Partner: The Brooklyn Rail.