Pioneer of the Minimal: Tony Conrad Retrospective at Hallwalls

From: Carolyn Tennant (email suppressed)
Date: Sat Oct 21 2006 - 12:35:40 PDT


HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER presents
PIONEER OF THE MINIMAL: TONY CONRAD RETROSPECTIVE
OCTOBER 25th-27th, 2006 at 8pm
341 Delaware Ave, Buffalo NY

³Pioneer of the Minimal: Tony Conrad Retrospective,² a celebration of over
three decades of Conradıs work, takes place this week at Hallwalls, October
25th-27th. A leading figure in late 20th Century art and a major influence
on the work of conceptual artists, Tony Conradıs impact on independent and
media arts is as hard to measure as his influence on experimental music.
The retrospective will commence on Wednesday evening with a special concert
that features Conrad performing with a musical ensemble. On Thursday and
Friday evenings, we will showcase Conradıs video and film works in the
Hallwalls cinema. We are proud to offer this major retrospective, funded in
part by the New York State Council for the Humanities, and to present his
music and media works within new contexts that emphasize their scholarly and
cultural ramifications. Columbia University Associate Professor Branden
Joseph, a scholar of contemporary and performance art practices, will be on
hand Friday evening to present a lecture on Conradıs work and to engage in a
public discussion with Conrad about performance and minimalism.
 
 
Wednesday, October 25 at 8pm
TONY CONRAD MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
An evening of experimental music by Tony Conrad and ensemble, to be held in
Asbury Hall at The Church, 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo. Tickets for this
event are $15 general, $10 members/students/seniors
 
 
Thursday, October 26 at 8pm
AN EVENING OF VIDEOS/FlLM BY TONY CONRAD, featuring:

NO EUROPE (1990, 14 min), made in collaboration with Chris Hill.
BEHOLDEN TO VICTORY (1983, 26 min.), featuring Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler.
Writes Kelley: ³Beholden To Victory is an edited video version of the
full-length super-8 film Hail the Fallen. It is a 'war movie' genre pictureŠ
The film was not directed in the traditional sense. There was no script. The
actors were required to play as in a game‹to follow certain rules, or to be
more precise, to follow certain restrictions. They were told only what they
were NOT ALLOWED TO DO. Thus the film consists of a series of scenes, of
examples of correct behavior.²
STUDIO OF THE STREETS (20 min. excerpt), from the activist cable access
show, starring the people of Buffalo.
COMING ATTRACTIONS (1970, 77 min), made in collaboration with Beverly Grant
Conrad, this is Conrad's rarely screened feature film. The work ³looks
backward moment into the memories and forward into the future of Francis
Francine (who first appeared in Flaming Creatures), an elegantly dowdy
transvestite of, and indeed beyond, a certain age. The memories, haunted by
a Spirit of Seductions Past suggest a generally lurid life of sumptuous sex
and questionable liaisons.² ­ Filmmakers Cooperative
 
 
Friday, October 27th at 8pm
AN EVENING OF FILMS/VIDEO BY TONY CONRAD, featuring:

THE FLICKER (1966, 30 min), Conrad's seminal experimental film, exploits the
strobing effect of the cinematic image. Considered a cornerstone of
structural filmmaking.
STRAIGHT AND NARROW (1970, 10 min), made with Beverly Conrad, sound by Terry
Riley and John Cale. An extension of the flicker film phenomenon. ³Straight
and Narrow is a study in subjective color and visual rhythm. Although it is
printed on black and white film, the hypnotic pacing of the images will
cause viewers to experience a programmed gamut of hallucinatory color
effects. Straight And Narrow uses the flicker phenomenon not as an end in
itself, but as an effectuator of other related phenomena. In this film the
colors which are so illusory in The Flicker are visible and under the
programmed control of the filmmaker. Also, by using images which alternate
in a vibrating flickering schedule, a new impression of motion and texture
is created.² Filmmakers Cooperative
FILM FEEDBACK (1972, 14 min), an effort to display the ³essential² property
of video i.e.: feedback, in terms of film. ³Made with a film-feedback team
which I directed at Antioch College. Negative image is shot from a small
rear-projection screen, the film comes out of the camera continuously (in
the dark room) and is immediately processed, dried, and projected on the
screen by the team. What are the qualities of film that may be made visible
through feedback?² ­ Tony Conrad
CYCLES 3s AND 7s (1977, 12 min.), ³a story: about numbers, the kind machines
should like to hear and tell, if they liked.² ­ Tony Conrad
 
Screenings will take place in the Hallwalls cinema, also at 341 Delaware
Avenue and tickets are $7 general, $5 students/seniors, $4 members.
For more information please visit www.hallwalls.org

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