In conjunction with the exhibition SILKE OTTO-KNAPP—IN THE WAITING ROOM—curated by Solveig Øvstebø—the Renaissance Society and the Logan Center for the Arts present MOVING IMAGES, a series of dance films by Yvonne Rainer, Babette Mangolte and Trisha Brown, and Charles Atlas and Merce Cunningham.
Post-screening, Otto-Knapp will discuss the films.
Above: Merce Cunningham and John Cage in an image from the 2017 exhibition catalog Merce Cunningham—Common Time. Image credit: Walker Art Center, MCA/Chicago, and LACMA.
Former Merce Cunningham dancers and choreographers Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener—in collaboration with video artist Charles Atlas—bring their live-dance/3-D video hybrid TESSERACT to Redcat for four performances this week. A London engagement begins at the end of February, 2019.
“The title refers to the four-dimensional analog of a cube, ‘moving from one world to another’ [Riener]. The first half of the show features 3-D footage using a mobile camera rig that moves in conjunction with the choreography, incorporating bits of animation. [In] the second half —a cast of six [dancers performing] in a proscenium setting—Atlas will mix and project real-time live video onto the stage.” — Matt de la Peña*
Charles Atlas has taken Los Angeles by storm. Over the past week, several galleries and museums in the city screened films by the pioneering video artist, film director, lighting and set designer. Atlas is widely credited for developing media-dance or “dance for camera”, closely following dancers through their motions in an elaborate set, creating an involved and dynamic viewing experience rather than one that is static and fixed.
Atlas’s films are characteristically exuberant, filled with wild colors, outlandish costumes, and sets straight out of Pee Wee’s Playhouse. They are highly cinematic yet often non-narrative. Atlas also incorporated special effects in postproduction into his films of the early 1980s, highly innovative for the time. The nine-day series of screenings in Los Angeles is part of ATLAS IN LA:
ATLAS IN LA is a nine-day festival of film screenings of work by internationally exhibited filmmaker Charles Atlas, which will occur March 10th-19th at eight venues around Los Angeles. The festival will kick-off with Atlas taking the stage at the Hammer Museum to discuss his career as a collaborator, filmmaker and video artist. The programming for each venue will align with its mission and scope. The programs at Echo Park Film Center and Los Angeles Filmforum focus on narrative driven experimental film, while the films at 356 Mission, Cal Arts, Human Resources and Park View focus more on Atlas relationship to the collaboration with choreographers and dancers. The series of films shown at ONE Archives will situate itself within their mission to engage with queer history. Accompanying his screening his screening at 356 Mission/Ooga Booga will be a book release of Charles Atlas’ first monograph, published by Prestel.
Atlas’ practice is firmly rooted in the moving image, and he is most famous for works that blur the line between experimental dance documentation and performance for the camera. In his 40-year career, he has produced dance films, experimental videos and documentary features. Atlas has collaborated extensively with other artists, dancers and choreographers, including Marina Abramovic, Antony and the Johnsons, Leigh Bowery, Michael Clark, Merce Cunningham, and Yvonne Rainer. Atlas has exhibited internationally at Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, De Hallen, South London Gallery, SALT Istanbul, Walker Art Center, and he has been included in four Whitney Biennials including 2012, but his work has rarely screened in Los Angeles. ATLAS IN LA is an opportunity to expose the city of Los Angeles to many more of Atlas’ films and videos.
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