Screening - Holding Binoculars, Pointing a Camera: A Cinema of Birdwatching

40 Arts Circle Drive,Evanston IL 60208

25 February, 2022

Description

A program of short films centered on birds and birdwatching practices as vectors of social and personal investigation HOLDING BINOCULARS, POINTING A CAMERA: A CINEMA OF BIRDWATCHING (Various artists, 1974 - 2021, 16mm & digital) "Holding Binoculars, Pointing a Camera" is a program of short films centered on birds and birdwatching practices as vectors of social and personal investigation. With works by Kevin Jerome Everson, Margaret Tait, Frédéric Moffet, Deborah Stratman, and additional artists, these films explore human-avian relationships from a variety of formal, emotional, and conceptual perspectives. Filmmakers Frédéric Moffet, Joelle Mercedes, and Deborah Stratman in conversation. About the films: Brown Thrasher (2020, 3 min, digital) Kevin Jerome Everson Aerial (1974, 4 min, 16mm) Margaret Tait come wishes be horses (2016, 8 min, 16mm) Rebecca Meyers The Very Big Crow (2021, 3 min, 16mm to digital) Joelle Mercedes The Magic Hedge (2016, 9 min, digital ) Frédéric Moffet Bird-cams (digital, 8 mins, digital) Sam Easterson Ray’s Birds (2010, 7 min, 16mm) Deborah Stratman Cardinal (2019, 2:30 min, 16mm transferred to digital) Kevin Jerome Everson With thanks to Video Data Bank, LUX, Picture Palace Pictures, Canyon Cinema, and the artists for providing access to the films. Kevin Jerome Everson's films appear courtesy the artist and Picture Palace Pictures. Image caption (banner): Still from Brown Thrasher (2020) ©Kevin Jerome Everson; courtesy the artist; trilobite-arts DAC; Picture Palace Pictures Ray's Birds (2010) Deborah Statman Bird-Cam (2008) by Sam Easterson -- courtesy of Video Data Bank The Block Museum is Northwestern University’s art museum. The Block is a dynamic, imaginative, and innovative teaching and learning resource for Northwestern and its surrounding communities, featuring a global exhibition program that crosses time periods and cultures and serves as a springboard for thought-provoking discussions relevant to our lives today. The museum also commissions new work by artists to foster connections between artists and the public through the creative process. Each year, the Block mounts exhibitions; organizes and hosts lectures, symposia, and workshops involving artists, scholars, curators, and critics; and screens classic and contemporary films at its in-house cinema. The museum also reaches national and international audiences through its traveling exhibitions, publications and website. Its growing permanent collection of approximately 5,000 works focuses primarily on prints, photography, and drawings. The Museum is located on the southeastern portion of Northwestern's Evanston campus, near the lake and Sheridan Road. Parking is FREE after 4PM on weekdays and all day on weekends. The nearest parking garage is located at the Segal Visitor's Center on Campus Drive.  The Block is free and open to all.