Tag: archive

Folk Saint will consist of Rebecca physically embodying a
saint/folk hero that will endure martyr like trials, some tragic
others humorous, within several video performances. This two
channel video installation will be displayed in the ATA storefront
window. Rebecca is also creating prayer card that viewers can take
at the reception or by request.

“The potential for empathy can only be achieved within a combination of elements that are on one hand highly familiar and on the other completely foreign. Within that space of familiarity and of the unknown a tension is created wherein a viewer is pulled into the space… The creation of Folk Saint is an attempt at combining the traditional trials of Christian saints with the vernacular folk stories and culture of humor and loss that imbues Iraqi folk tales from the last century.” – Rebecca Frediani

Rebecca takes on a large subject, but rather then try to completely
explain religion and the cultures that are produced from belief,
she focuses on weaving the personal with the communal and the
political. Rebecca’s videos take Christian and Iraqi symbolism and
enter them into a different place: her home and her contemporary
urban/suburban life, transforming two familiars into a wholly
surreal experience that forces the viewer to imagine other
scenarios to life as we know it.

This Exhibition is part of a series, curated by Dana Hemenway,
exploring the artist’s presence, physical & otherwise in
contemporary video & installation art.

Heavens is a collection of photographs of domes and ceilings from cathedrals, train stations and other public buildings in Europe and North America. In these, the photographer explores different depictions of the great celestial map that guides the traveler through his journey on earth, as manifested in architecture through the ages. Each image tells of a different time and a different space, from the structures of antiquity such as the Alhambra in Granada to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to the buildings of the modern day, as are Potsdamer Platz Bahnhof in Berlin to the Grand Central Sation in New York. The viewer finds in these a representation of the heavens, or his place in the universe, disappearing in the new modern aesthetic of the public realm.

This month’s openscreening will explore the following theme: The West We Won

plus a special presentation of:

Heap Us ‘Round Our Ruins an Interstate Film Circuit

Experimental/underground filmmakers Ben Balcom and Josh Weissbach will present Heap Us ‘Round Our Ruins: An Interstate Film Circuit. Both filmmakers differ in their approach and subject matter, but are both unified by an interest in the vitality of the moving image as an experience of communication. With that said, this film program will try to promote connections that speak to each other across these two collections of films.

ATA’s open screening is the only monthly open submissions screening in the Bay Area. Get your work out there! Get feedback! Or just come and take it all in! One hour of shorts are accepted monthly on an open revolving basis, anything goes with the screened work, and the refreshments are pretty good too.

$5, FREE admission for contributing artists. Door:7:30pm Projector: 8pm

Not a filmmaker? Come and hang out with us anywayEnjoy the atmosphere, the art, the movies, the people, the refreshments

Submissions: Label all tapes w/ name, contact, title and length. Mail to: Openscreening, 992 Valencia, SF, 94110 1-2 week advance submissions strongly recommended. If not. . . it is all good. Max length: 15 min. Formats: DVD, miniDV/DVcam, VHS, beta, 8mm and 16mm All genres.

More Info: contact Katy at ataopenscreening@atasite.org