October 17 – Narcisa Hirsch: Contact Zones
Posted by | mnguyen6 | Posted on | October 15, 2019
Curator Federico Windhausen in person and Narcisa Hirsch via Skype
Narcisa Hirsch, Werner Nekes, 1980. Image courtesy of the artist
A pivotal figure in Latin American experimental cinema, Narcisa Hirsch is renowned for her striking explorations of the body, agency, and desire. Emigrating from Germany to Argentina in the 1920s, Hirsch first took up artistic practice through painting, then shifted to performances and happenings before moving into filmmaking in the late 1960s. Formally rigorous and visually lyrical, her films raise various existential and spiritual questions as they traverse the landscapes of her everyday life, from Patagonia’s steppes and Buenos Aires’ urban streets to her own domestic spaces. Curator Federico Windhausen presents a selection of works from the 1970s and 80s, some screening for the first time in the United States, before moderating a post-screening discussion with the artist, who will join remotely. Films include Performance Muñecos: London–Buenos Aires–New York (1972/2019), Diarios patagónicos (ca 1972), Taller (Workshop) (ca 1972), Come Out (ca 1974), La noche bengalí (1980), Werner Nekes (1980), and Ama-Zona (1983/2001).
1972–2019, Argentina/United Kingdom/United States, ca 75 minutes followed by discussion
Narcisa Hirsch is an artist and filmmaker whose work has contributed extensively to the formation and sustained development of experimental production in Argentina. Her work has been exhibited and screened internationally, including most recently Art Basel Cities: Buenos Aires (2018) and in retrospectives at the Vienna International Film Festival (2012) and TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto (2013).
Federico Windhausen is a film scholar and programmer. He has curated programs for the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany; London Film Festival; National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; and Ambulante, Mexico, among other venues. He is editing the forthcoming anthology “A Companion to Experimental Cinema” and writing a book about Argentine experimental cinema of the 1970s and 1980s.
Tags: Early Video Art > Experimental > Feminist > Non-Fiction > Performance > Political
About
Conversations at the Edge is a weekly series of screenings, performances, and talks by groundbreaking media artists.
CATE is organized by SAIC's Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation in collaboration with the Gene Siskel Film Center and SAIC's Video Data Bank.
Programs take place at the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State / Chicago, IL / 312.846.2600), unless otherwise noted.
