Glass (16mm)

Film Screening

“Glass” is a program of short experimental works about glass. This program includes The Wonder Ring, an early work by avant-garde film legend Stan Brakhage exploring windows, distortion, light and vision on NYC’s Third Avenue elevated train (demolished soon thereafter.) The centerpiece of the lineup is John Smith’s 1991 film Slow Glass, a mesmerizing experimental documentary that presents a discussion of the manufacture of glass as a way to explore memory and transformation. Filled with Smith’s signature witty wordplay and elegant visual punning, Slow Glass also quietly ponders weighter issues of urban transformation and the value placed on craftsmanship. Smith’s films Gargantuan and The Black Tower have been featured in past experimental screenings at Pioneer Works.

“Glass” is curated by Alexander Stewart, who has programmed several screenings of experimental film works at Pioneer Works, including the Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation in 2013 and 2014.

Standish Lawder, Catfilm for Katy & Cynnie, 3:00, 1973, 16mm
Make A Wish: Glass (Macmillan Films – Arthur J Hornitz, dir.) – 12:30, 1972, 16mm
Stan Brakhage – Wonder Ring, 5:22, 1955, 16mm
John Smith – Slow Glass, 40:00, 1991, 16mm
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle – Always After (The Glass House), 9:45, 2006, Super-16mm on HD video (Courtesy of the artist and Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica)
Chris Burden – TV Commercials 1973-1977, 3:45, 1973-1977/2000, Video

With additional works TBA; 70 mins. total