At Participant Inc for the Optipus film group's Kodachrome screening:
Optipus film group celebrates & mourns
the Death of Kodachrome
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253 East Houston St
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Friday, April 22, 8pm
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All Kodachrome Films (original & found, new & old, 16mm, S-8, R-8 & slides)
& the premiere of our new ‘Zine
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Bradley Eros Lary Seven Victoria Keddie Rachelle Rahme Rachael Abernathy Katherine Bauer
Tim Geraghty Sarah Halpern Pancho/Oscar
David Baker Jay Hudson Lisa Kletjian Feliz Solomon
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Viva! Kodachromanticism!
As with many such expanded cinema events watching the elaborate set-up take place was almost like a second show in itself:
Projectors, projectors, projectors (16mm, super 8, 8mm, 35mm slide), portable Victrolas, sound-producing objects for musique concrete, the "koda crowns" referred to Bradley's eulogy "Koda Crows," and still more projectors.
Along the wall the Optipus Kodachrome Zine was tacked up, and copies for sale for $5, "Even though it cost us about $20 a copy to produce," remarked Bradley. But so it was, since you couldn't have a "Kodachrome" zine without a lot of color copying.***
The program began with Bradley and Lary wearing their "koda crowns" introducing the show.
Bradley read his "Koda Crows" ode by flashlight. Kodachrome closeups of fire were accompanied by the crackling sound of color gels being crumpled by the Optipus group, the sound coming from different directions all around the room.
David Baker handed out balloons to the audience, warning everyone not to inflate the balloons until he gave the signal. Following a poem, also read by flashlight, he announced that everyone could now inflate their balloons as "I Did It My Way" began to play from a boom-box, and pandemonium broke out with the audience volleying balloons into the air, the round shadows of the drifting balloons crisscrossing the screen, accompanied by a chorus of bleating "balloon music" made by pitching the end of the deflating balloons. Marianne suggested that someone needed to create a balloon orchestra. "With guest conductor David Baker!"A roll of footage of Elvis impersonators followed. From the back of the room Lary Seven explained, "These are 'Elvii'." (Elvii, the plural for Elvis, of course. "Elvis-es"? that would just be silly.)
Kodachrome slides from Sarah Halpern's family brought us into the home movie part of the program, and tied together with her essay "Kodachrome and Death," in the aforementioned zine.
The expanded cinema Kodachrome mash-up ended things. Slides, and 16mm, and super 8, and regular 8 all at once! But with several pauses, as the circuit breaker tripped from all the projectors going at once, followed by the power strip doing the same. Each time a collective "Aww," from the audience as the room went dark and silent. But a lovely thing to see in those moments when it wasn't all shutting down.
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| Bradley reads "Koda Crows" |
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| "Yes cry you koda crows! black birds beyond the chromatic spectrum" |
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| David Baker reads by flashlight. |
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| Elvii. |
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| The power went off more than once during the expanded cinema portion of the show. |
Cheers!
great photos Joel! xoxo
ReplyDeleteThanks Azul!!
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