November 14 – Filipa César: Spell Reel
Filipa César in person The genre-bending work of Portuguese artist Filipa César takes up the legacies of European colonialism, focusing on moments and movements of resistance. In 2012, she began investigating a trove of footage documenting Guinea-Bissau’s war of independence from Portugal in the 1960s and 1970s. Long thought to be lost, these films mark […]
November 7 – An Evening With Hiwa K
Hiwa K in person Drawing from individual stories, political actions, and his own experience fleeing Iraq by foot in the late 1990s, the deeply moving and often darkly absurd films, performances, and installations of Iraqi-German artist Hiwa K explore our most pressing issues—displacement, war, and identity. In videos like Pre-Image (Blind as the Mother Tongue) (2017) or A […]
October 17 – Narcisa Hirsch: Contact Zones
Curator Federico Windhausen in person and Narcisa Hirsch via Skype 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 […]
February 7 – Jodie Mack: The Grand Bizarre
Jodie Mack in person Artist and animator Jodie Mack (MFA 2007) is celebrated for transforming the patterns of everyday life into dazzling short films. Her debut feature is an exhilarating examination of the global circulation of textiles. Shot on location in nearly 20 countries, the film interweaves footage of industrial mills, artisan looms, airports, cargo […]
April 6 – Melika Bass: Devotional Animals
Richly atmospheric, the films and installations of Chicago-based artist Melika Bass (MFA 2007) are populated by elusive figures whose enigmatic behavior suggest dark and troubling lives just beyond the screen. Working with a recurring group of performers, some of whom reappear as the same character in multiple films, Bass has developed an expansive approach to […]
March 3-Beatriz Santiago Muñoz: Otros usos
Thursday, March 3 | This week artist Beatriz Santiago Muñoz kicks off our Spring 2016 season with a screening and discussion! Puerto Rican artist Beatriz Santiago Muñoz (MFA 1997) draws from anthropology and experimental theater to craft exquisite films about the physical and symbolic histories of the Caribbean. She often collaborates with her subjects—through interviews, reenactment, and play—to […]
On Louis Henderson
Tomorrow English filmmaker Louis Henderson will join us for his first Chicago appearance! Video Data Bank‘s Lindsay Bosch blogs about Henderson’s references to the Internet and computing in his complex meditations on neo-colonalism and contemporary Ghana. Most of video art I watch, I watch on my laptop. I dream of creating a perfect screening space—uninterrupted hours, big […]
September 24-Le Révélateur
Thursday, September 24 | Montreal-based video artist Sabrina Ratté and musician Roger Tellier-Craig in person! Le Révélateur is Montreal-based video artist Sabrina Ratté and musician Roger Tellier-Craig (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Fly Pan Am). Using digital and analog tools, the two produce mesmerizing audiovisual performances of pulsing light corridors, abstract color washes, spaced out synths, and […]
On “Projections, Portraits, and Picaresques”
Projections, Portraits, and Picaresques: Works by Mary Helena Clark, Mariah Garnett, and Latham Zearfoss screens the at Gene Siskel Film Center tomorrow, Thursday, April 23rd at 6pm. Mary Helena Clark, Mariah Garnett, and Latham Zearfoss in person! Ouroboros—an ancient symbol depicting a serpent eating its own tail. Rather than requiring or demanding a space, this reworking […]
Apr 23 – Projections, Portraits, and Picaresques: Works by Mary Helena Clark, Mariah Garnett, and Latham Zearfoss
Thursday, April 23rd | Mary Helena Clark, Mariah Garnett, and Latham Zearfoss in person! Artists Mary Helena Clark, Mariah Garnett, and Latham Zearfoss (BFA 2008) self-reflexively play with portraiture and autobiography in a cultural landscape dominated by selfies and shifting social media platforms. In Home Movie (2012), Zearfoss engages with the contemporary urge to capture personal […]
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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.
