Artists Space

Performance Premiere

Screening
September 10, 2018, 9pm

This screening takes place at Metrograph and is part of the Jack Smith Film Retrospective program series.

Film

Jack Smith at University of Colorado, October 27, 1980, video, (sound, black and white), 100 minutes.

A black and white image of two blurry figures talking to each other in a dark room.
Jack Smith, Jack Smith at University of Colorado, 1980. Video, (sound, black and white), 100 minutes. [A black and white image of two blurry figures talking to each other in a dark room.]

Shot on a ¾ inch open reel, this never-before-seen video documents a complete live performance by Jack Smith. Characteristic of the unique performance style Smith developed throughout the 1970s, he is seen on stage rearranging props, playing music, and occasionally addressing the audience before disappearing behind a curtain. Equally mesmerizing and frustrating, the footage captures a Smith performance in its typically unresolved, unpredictable, and improvisatory state. World premiere.

Thank you: Anthology Film Archives, Isaac Alpert, Barbara Gladstone, Claire Henry, J. Hoberman, Ed Leffingwell, Jerry Tartaglia.

Organized by Kathrin Bentele, Stella Cilman, Jay Sanders, and Jamie Stevens.

Presented in collaboration with Metrograph.