High Kukus (1973) by James Broughton
Saturday, June 8, 1985, 8:00 pm
Chances in Time: Random Operations in Film
The artists in this exhibition are working at the edge of the invisible, elusive border of cause and effect. Chance as a process is crucial to 20th century art, but its role in cinema has been under-appreciated. The purposeful uses of chance lay bare the construction of a medium most people prefer when it is seamlessly illusionistic. This three-part series examines random operations in the creation of film, video, music, performance, slide projection, poetry, and installation. It is the first of its kind. Dice-throwing, performance-games, found objects, randomly-determined structure, uncontrollable events, and indeterminate consequences are the tools that construct these works, many of which are having their public or San Francisco premieres. Conceived and curated by James Irwin.
June 8, Saturday, 8:00 P.M.
James Broughton, High Kukus (1973, film)
Stan Brakhage, Mothlight (1963, film)
James Irwin, KU (1981, film & performance) — Tales from the grey area between causality and coincidence.
David Heintz, Chance Film (1969, film)
Mark Vail, Random (1983, video) — A computer employed random number generating to produce the music and graphics for this piece.
Robert Attanasio, Sound Camera Rotations (1976-79, film) — A game played every year or two, the performers attempting to beat the clock while circling the already spiraling Guggenheim Museum.
Michael Shemchuk’s installation will be on view in the window of the New College Gallery during the length of the exhibition series. A camera obscura exposing a constantly changing photograph, it will be freshly installed several times.