In the Jonas Mekas’ Singing Room at Microscope Gallery Microscope is excited to announce a new monthly screening series New York by Foot, curated by and with Julius Ziz as well as guest curators, launching on Sunday September 21. The title of the series references both the history of filming the city while walking its streets and that referring to the length of a celluloid film by the number of feet of its rolls, rather than its duration in minutes. All works will be shown in their original mediums, when available.
These times call for a focus on and celebration of the New York energy and ways of life, which cannot be taken for granted and have inspired artists to take out their cameras and film/record works ranging from the highly personal and diarist to those using the city as a backdrop for performance or other more narrative works. The works in the program allows us to see the excitement, loneliness, wonder, stress, community, unpredictability, openness and other unique facets of NYC through a wide range of films made throughout the last century, or more. On the nights of this monthly series the screening room will be renamed the “Jonas Mekas Singing Room.” Why the word “singing”? It is as if the films in this series are quietly singing, while waiting for us to listen and join in. Some have been sitting and catching dust on shelves for too long and too far away from the empty screen. Jonas Mekas was a champion of many of these works — these moments/glimpses of Paradise, as he would call them — and like him, we feel we have no choice but to share them with you. While some of these works may now be considered old, these film serve as reminders of the inspirations of this city and the collective power of art and artists to come together to capture and create small moments of what we think of as beauty and humanity. *“Jonas was desperate, hungry for a few days. Walking New York streets, not to think about food, cleared his mind. He bumps into an old man sitting on the street and singing his heart out. So Jonas asked the old man—Ah, you are singing. Your life must be wonderful. The old man answered: My life is miserable, very bad… but when I sing, I’m so happy! — Julius Ziz* *First program on Sunday September 21, 7pm featuring the following works:* “Manhatta” by Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand (1921) 10 minutes 38 seconds “Under the Brooklyn Bridge” by Rudy Burckhardt (1953) 15 minutes “NY, NY” by Francis Thomson (1957) 15 minutes “Go Go Go” by Marie Menken (1964) 11 minutes 30 seconds “This is not a demonstration” by Jamie Barrios (1969) 8 minutes “New York Scenes” by Takahiko Iimura (1967) 10 minutes *TRT: 70 minutes* Future programs are scheduled to take place on the third Monday of each month. ADVANCE TICKETS <https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/microscopegallery/new-york-by-foot> * General Admission $10 Member/Student Admission $8* More info: https://microscopegallery.com/new-york-by-foot/
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