Short Films by Anthony McCall, Hollis Frampton, Carolee Schneemann and Paul Sharits

Presented in association with San Francisco Cinematheque

Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture’s current exhibition Anthony McCall: First Light presents seminal works of cinematic sculpture by the pioneering British artist, three “solid light” works including the canonical Line Describing a Cone (1973). These non-theatrical installation works transformed the possibilities of cinema, challenge the boundaries between film, sculpture, drawing, and performance, and invite viewers to step away from the screen and into the sculptural beams of projected light themselves.

In tandem with the exhibition, Fort Mason Art and San Francisco Cinematheque present a one-night-only screening featuring a trio of diverse works which were inspirational to McCall’s life and practice during the period of conceiving and creating Line Describing a Cone, works suggested by the artist (all to screen in 16mm): Carolee Schneemann’s Plumb Line (1972), described by Schneemann as ”a moving and powerful subjective chronicle of the breaking up of a love relationship… a devastating exorcism, as the viewer sees and hears the film approximate the interior memory of the experience;” Paul Sharits’ Ray Gun Virus (1966), a film of pure flickering color, “affirming projector, projection beam, screen, emulsion, film frame structure, etc.,” a film as much projected on the viewers nervous system as on the screen; and Nostalgia (Hapax Legomena I) (1971), Hollis Frampton’s poetic ode to motion and stillness, anticipation and memory. The program opens with McCall’s rarely screened early work Landscape for Fire (1972). Steve Polta, Artistic Director of San Francisco Cinematheque, will introduce the films and place them within the context of McCall’s work.

SCREENING:

Landscape for Fire (1972) by Anthony McCall; 16mm screened as digital video, color, sound, 7 minutes. Exhibition file from the maker.

Ray Gun Virus (1966) by Paul Sharits; 16mm, color, sound, 14 minutes. Print from Canyon Cinema.

Plumb Line (1972) by Carolee Schneemann; 16mm, color, sound, 18 minutes. Print from Canyon Cinema.

Nostalgia (Hapax Legomena I) (1971) by Hollis Frampton; 16mm, b&w, sound, 38 minutes. Print from the Film-Makers’ Cooperative.