Robert Beavers, in Early Monthly Segments
In celebration of a year’s worth of programming we are delighted to present an evening of films by Robert Beavers, the artist from whom we borrowed our name. None of Beavers films are distributed in North America, so this is a rare opportunity to view these works.
Early Monthly Segments is composed of a series of short films and fragments shot between 1967 and 1970. These films lay the foundation for Beavers’ film practice over the subsequent decades in terms of structure and technique as well as content. The physical nature of the camera, its optical elements and the nature of the filmstrip itself are as much a part of the work as its images of places, autobiographical elements and portraits.
In The Painting, Beavers juxtaposes shots of Martyrdom of Saint Hippolytus altarpiece, by an unidentified Flemish artist with an intersection in Bern and images of Gregory Markopoulos and himself. He describes the film as using “the theme of tearing as an emblem of intense emotion” to illustrate “the unity of destruction and unity.” This could also serve as a description of the filmmaking process in which images are taken apart then reconstructed in the process of editing.
Pitcher of Colored Light, Beavers’ most recent film is a portrait of his mother and her surroundings. This film shows remarkable refinement in its construction, the structure and logic combined seamlessly with the photography and subject of the film. “Pitcher alights on various motifs (sun-dappled grass, household ceramics, a cat on a couch, silvery hair) only to pan, fade, lurch, or glide off subject in a continuous act of readjusted attention…. Beavers’ mesh of images are impelled by emotional, not just formal, necessity.” Nathan Lee (Village Voice)
Check out the advance review at Toronto Film Scene!
Programme
Early Monthly Segments (1968-2002,16mm, color, silent, 33 minutes)
The Painting (1972/1999, 16mm, color, sound 13 minutes)
Pitcher of Colored Light (2007, 16mm, color, sound, 23 minutes) Canadian Premiere!
@ the Art Bar, Gladstone Hotel | 1214 Queen St West
Tuesday March 16, 2010 | 7:30 pm screening, $5