Saturday May 18, 7pm
THE BLACK BIRD
live moving image and sound performance by Sarah Halpern
admission $6
© Image courtesy of Sarah Halpern
Microscope Gallery welcomes Sarah Halpern back to the gallery for a special evening of moving image and sound performances. For “The Black Bird”, Halpern reappropriates iconic imagery and written texts through the use of cut outs and collage in three live light & sound compositions involving 16mm film, filmless projection, and handmade 35mm film slides.
The performances in “The Black Bird” relate to the artist’s current exhibition “Paper Plexus”, scheduled to close on Sunday May 19. Musician Matt Wellins joins Halpern on the final piece of the night.
PROGRAM:
approximately 60 minutes
The Great Ray, 35mm handmade slides, 10 min, 2011
The collage slides in the performance are made from still frames of James Whale’s 1933 classic, “Frankenstein”. In the film, the scientist creates his “monster” by cutting up, sewing together and animating the body parts of the deceased. The actor’s actions were frozen through photography, edited and then “come to life” through cinema. Stills from the movie were then found, cut out and reassembled once more by Halpern. Through these cycles of motion and stillness, artistic assemblage is recognized as a life giving force.
Paper Trail, performance with film strip projector, 25 min, 2013
Light shines through a paper scroll, projecting pieces of The Norton Anthology of American Literature on screen. The scroll physically resembles a strip of film and is exhibited in a similar manner as a way to relate books and cinema, reading and watching, psychological projection and the physical projection of light.
Malted Confections, 16mm film and sound, 25 min, 2012
This performance is a collaboration with Matt Wellins wherein cut-out objects from “The Maltese Falcon” are left floating in blackness. Clips from the soundtrack are re-arranged, altered, and played out of sync. Heads are animated but bodiless, voices are heard without an apparent speaker. The work attempts to deal with loaded images and language, to confront a disembodied set of symbols.
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SARAH HALPERN is an artist working with 16mm film, collage on paper, 35mm slides, music and performance. Her work is largely focused on cinematic time and the active role of the viewer. Halpern’s work been shown previously at venues including The Museum of Moving Image, The Kitchen, Participant Inc, Anthology Film Archives, and Microscope Gallery. Halpern holds a B.A. in Film and Electronic Arts from Bard College.
