August 15, 2019, Thursday - Sound for Silents 2019: Film + Music on the Walker Hillside

Time: 7:00 pm DJ and Food Trucks, 8:30 pm Screening and Performance

Location: Wurtele Upper Garden

Sound for Silents 2019: Film + Music on the Walker Hillside

Join us at sunset on the hillside for an electrifying evening of live music paired with silent films from the Walker’s Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection. Celebrating its third year, Sound for Silents features a newly commissioned score from Twin Cities–based funk, soul, and hip-hop collective Astralblak.

Food trucks and vendors will be on hand with a variety of tempting options beginning at 7 pm, including Foxy Falafel, Fro-Yo-Soul, Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, and Esker Grove. Tunes from DJs Sanni Brown and Sean McPherson of 89.3 The Current add to the mix for the perfect summer night out.

About the Program

For this Walker-commissioned program, Astralblak’s five musicians/producers selected experimental shorts by moving image artists Maya Deren, Sondra Perry, and Amir George. Astralblak will perform their new musical score onstage to accompany the films, creating an expressive visual and sonic experience.

Films

Black/Cloud
A manipulation of a performance in which two black bodies appear and vanish in hazy images of light and shadow. Directed by Sondra Perry. 2010, 25 min. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York.

Shades of Shadow
Created solely with found footage, a metaphysical collage of psychedelic live action/animation delves into spiritual mysticism and ritual. Directed by Amir George. 2015, video, 6 min. Courtesy the artist. Note: contains brief nudity.

Double Quadruple Etcetera Etcetera I & II
Perry uses Photoshop’s content aware function in her digital animation of a white room attempting to absorb the presence of frenetic dancing bodies. Directed by Sondra Perry. 2013, video, 10 min. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York.

Meditation on Violence
This balletic film by a pioneer of the American avant-garde features a Chinese boxer in a ritualistic dance, mirrored by the camera. Directed by Maya Deren. 1948, 16mm transferred to digital, 12 min. Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection.

Black Girl as a Landscape
Using an abstraction of performer Dionne Lee’s body, the film investigates black femininity as well as larger visual and environmental ecologies. Directed by Sondra Perry. 2010, video, 10 min. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York.