. Conversations at the Edge (CATE)

Civil Status: Films by Alina Rudnitskaya

Thursday, November 4, 6:00 pm | Alina Rudnitskaya in person! Often absurd and occasionally shattering, Alina Rudnitskaya’s documentaries are tragicomic field notes on the bracing cultural and political changes of “New Russia.”  Produced largely through the storied St. Petersburg Documentary Studio, her films examine the day-to-day lives of her fellow citizens while illuminating their aspirations […]

Under the Cement, Sediment: Recent Video In and Around China

Thursday, October 28, 6 p.m. | Curator Pablo de Ocampo in person! Still from “Factory” (Chen Chieh-Jen, 2003). Image courtesy the artist. In Yang Zhenzhong’s 2003 video Spring Story, a group of 1,500 employees at a Siemens factory recite an oft-cited line from a 1992 Deng Xiaoping speech: “A planned economy is not equivalent to […]

Interview with Luis Gispert

Charlotte Marra spoke with artist Luis Gispert in advance of his October 21 appearance at Conversations at the Edge. Charlotte Marra: In the video René (2008), you create a portrait of a family friend. There is a marked difference in style and subject matter from your previous work (Stereomongrel, 2005, or Smother, 2008) and elements […]

Luis Gispert: Hyperreal

Thursday, October 21, 6 p.m. | Luis Gispert in person! Réne (Luis Gispert, 2008). Image courtesy the artist. In his dramatic photographic tableaux, sculptures, video vignettes, and short films, Miami-New York-based artist and SAIC alumnus Luis Gispert (BFA ’96) mashes up consumerist pop culture and narco-nouveau riche ‘80s aesthetics with Freudian nightmares and socio-economic provocation. […]

Internal Systems: Films by Coleen Fitzgibbon

Thursday, October 14, 6 p.m. | Coleen Fitzgibbon in person! “…Brilliance waiting to be revisited.” — Holly Willis, LA Weekly Between 1973 and 1975, Coleen Fitzgibbon, operating under the name “Colen Fitzgibbon,” produced a series of films that stand as some of cinema’s most rigorous explorations of the medium.  Associated with the Structural film movement […]

Bruce Bickford’s World

Thursday, October 7, 6 p.m. | Bruce Bickford in person Featuring live accompaniment by Jeff Parker and Frank Rosaly Bruce Bickford’s plasticine heads. Image courtesy the artist. “Bruce Bickford is a genius!” — Frank Zappa Enchanted gardens, epic battles, and creatures that morph out of roiling landscapes of clay are but a few of the visions […]