Thursday, February 27, 2003, 8pm
Sharon Couzin in person!
Professor in the Department of Film, Video & New Media, Sharon Couzin presents premieres of three new works. Elusive Cha-Cha (2002) is a portrait of performance artist E.J. Sims, with a soundtrack featuring Robert Metrick’s bongo and voice chant punctuating and echoing quick jump cuts. A mock soap opera narrative frames the performances in a tactile, evocative and persistent “experience of a process.” A film of reflections, small insects, leaves, stones, light and paintings of large women, Her Other Self (2003) explores the interface and identity of inner and outer, body and object, real and remembered, through a fascination with fetish objects. Old Japan Now (2003) explores temple spaces, traditional Noh drama and modern Butoh dance to discover where ritual began and how it persists in modern practices. With footage from several important temples in Kyoto and Tokyo, as well as interviews with practitioners of Noh and Butoh, Old Japan Now seeks to explain some of the historical significance that descends from the Shinto religion and early animism. More poetic than clinical, the film is part diary and part haiku, considering the spiral path of ritual (KJ Mohr). 2002—2003, Sharon Couzin, USA, ca. 85 min, various formats.