Personal Space: Films by Aurand and Beavers

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The filmmakers Robert Beavers (b. 1949) and Ute Aurand (b. 1957) are internationally known for their evocative portraits of people and places: Beavers has been making films since 1966 and retrospectives of his work have been organized for the Whitney Museum and the Tate Modern, among others. Aurand’s work explores space and human relations through astute, small gestures and purposeful sound. Her films, sometimes likened to the film diaries of Marie Menken and Jonas Mekas, have recently been featured at Tate Modern and the Harvard Film Archive. The artists are present for all events; films will be screened in original 16mm format unless otherwise noted.

October 10, 14h
Portraits of Place and Familiars
A weave of six short films that mutually resonate: Robert Beavers’ First Weeks (silent, 2014); The Hedge Theater (1986 – 1990/2002, 35mm), filmed in Italy and featuring Francesco Borromini’s architecture, birdcages, and the sewing of a buttonhole; and The Suppliant (2010), a portrait drawn from a living space and a small sculpture. Aurand’s films include the silent triptych Im Park and A Walk (2008); Kopfüber im Geäst (Hanging Upside Down in the Branches, 2009), a montage of brief recollections filmed in the years before the death of the filmmaker’s parents; and Am Meer (At the Sea, 1995), the record of a sojourn on the Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee, edited in-camera. (Total running time 56 minutes)

October 10, 15:30h
Three Films by Robert Beavers
The first and second title in this program, both filmed in Greece, are included in Beavers’s epic seventeen-film cycle, My Hand Outstretched to the Winged Distance and Sightless Measure: The Stoas (1991 – 1997, 35mm), a painterly study of the Athens market district and Arcadian landscapes, and The Ground (1993 – 2011, 35mm), described by the filmmaker as “a rhythm, marked by variations in repetition—strokes of hammer and fist resounding in dialogue.” Listening to the Space in My Room (2013) “summons up not only the memory but also the physical presence of the filmmaker’s life in the home of his Swiss friends, the Staehelins”. (Total running time 55 minutes)

October 11, 14h
Recent Films by Ute Aurand
Aurand’s program of her most recent work includes To Be Here (2013), filmed in New England, New York, and the southwestern United States; Sakura, Sakura (2015) filmed in Japan; and three short portraits of the filmmaker’s friends — Maria, Susan, and Lisbeth (2011 – 2012). “Filming portraits allows me to emphasize private gestures and moments beyond narration and documentation” — U.A. (Total running time 51 minutes)

Venue: 

National Gallery of Art - Washington, United States

Dates: 

Repeats every day 2 times.
Saturday, October 10, 2015 (All day)
Sunday, October 11, 2015 (All day)

Category: 

Dates: 

Saturday, October 10, 2015 (All day)
Sunday, October 11, 2015 (All day)
  • Fourth Street and Constitution Ave., NW
    20565   Washington, Washington
    United States
    38° 53' 31.2468" N, 77° 0' 2.0592" W