" T H E  L A S T  D A Y S  O F  C A P R I C O R N " 
CONNECTIVITY THROUGH CINEMA WITH TODD CHANDLER *IN PERSON*

SUNDAY APRIL 13TH 2014 @ THE CENTER FOR PERFORMANCE RESEARCH
361 MANHATTAN AVENUE, BROOKLYN. OFF METROPOLITAN G OR LORIMER L
DOORS AT 7PM – SHOW AT 7:30PM – $6 SUGGESTED DONATION – FILMS, DRINKS & DISCUSSION.

Join us for an intimate screening presentation of recent Super 8mm films by Tara Nelson (Boston, MA). Among the work being shown in the program are four new films completed in 2014 that mirror her personal relationships and inner thoughts. Whether the film is presented as a single channel or part of a hybrid performance/participation, the viewer will be thoughtfully woven into the experience.“These films are reflections, not memories. They continue to be born, be young, get old, pass away and start over. Each film is a cycle, and together they are a family. Let’s hope they can manage to get along…” – T.N.

Total running time, 57 minutes with post-screening discussion/Q&A with the artist.

FULL PROGRAM:

Family Room (2011, 5 min., Super 8mm multi-projection, color/b&w, digital sound collage)
My family has not been in the same room together for many years. This is my attempt at a reunion.

Projector 1: Dad Skeet Shooting
Projector 2: Nicky on Skype (from China)
Projector 3: A day with Mom
Projector 4: Self portrait

Flying Fish (2012, 7 min., Super 8mm, color)
“When the new is given birth, the light is brought to Earth. The energy of the cosmos becomes visible through human life and deeds, and that energy impregnates all with its divine quality. The creation which takes place in darkness and stillness will emerge and spread the divine, the Light, sharing it once again with the mother who gave it birth.” – The Tarot, Princess of Disks

SNOW (2010, 8 min., Super 8mm, b&w)
Following a difficult surgery, I spent several days in the hospital and several weeks on narcotic painkillers. Snow is a chronicle of my experience struggling to understand what had happened to me and how my life had changed unexpectedly. Most of the footage was shot during my hospital stay, and during my time under the influence of painkillers. It was hand processed and hand-scratched.

Fireflies (2014, 5 min., Super 8mm, color)
A portrait of my father, dedicated to my nephew Wylie.

Last Day of Capricorn (2014, 8 min., Super 8mm, color, magnetic sound stripe)
A self portrait on my 38th birthday, which I spent alone in a strangers’ apartment. Memories mixed with important messages and were sent through the pictures on the walls. Dedicated to Anne Charlotte Robertson.

In China (2012, 10 min., Super 8mm, color, sound / Buddhist “chant box”)
A travel memoir on two projectors: one reel is black and white, the other color. The films are superimposed at the time of projection, and edited together during a live performance in which I use Chinese fans as external shutters. By blocking the light of one projector with a fan, the image of the other shines through. The sound is played on a small electronic Buddhist “chant box”, which is passed through the audience during the performance.

Lullaby (2014, 6 min., Super 8mm, color)
My mother suffers from sleep apnea, and often stops breathing in her sleep. Many nights I lay awake waiting to hear her breathe again.

A Field At Dawn (premiere) (2014, 8 min., Super 8mm, color)
You are sitting here with us, But you are also out walking in a field at dawn.

ABOUT TARA NELSON:
Tara Merenda Nelson is a Boston-based filmmaker, curator and installation artist. Her work has been exhibited in galleries, museums basements and backyards throughout the United States and Canada, including the NYFF’s Views from the Avant Garde program and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In February, 2011, she curated a four-city tour for French experim

ental filmmaker Rose Lowder. She has worked as an intern at the Harvard Film Archive and WGBH’s Antiques Roadshow, and holds an MFA in Film/Video from the Massachusetts College of Art. She has taught film production at Ithaca College, Cornell University, Montserrat College of Art and the Cambridge School of Weston.

Featured screenings include Museum of Modern Art (New York), Anthology Film Archives (New York), Views of the Avant-Garde (New York), Mono No Aware IV (Brooklyn, NY), Fellows Screening, Flaherty Film Seminar, Millennium Film Workshop (New York City), Videoex Film Festival (Switzerland), Montreal Underground Film Festival (Canada), Chicago Underground Film Festival (Chicago, IL) Experimental Film Festival (Portland, OR) Echo Park Film Center ( Los Angeles, CA)

Her curated programs have been exhibited at Anthology Film Archives (New York), Gene Siskel Film Center (Chicago, IL), Union Theater (Wisconsin, MW) Spectacle NU Gallery (Boston, MA) Monserrat College of Art (Beverly, MA) and MassArt Film Society (Boston, MA). Tara has also conducted interviews and contributed articles to Big, Red & Shiny, PaulSharits.com, and INCITE Journal of Experimental Media # 4: Exhibition Guide.

MONO NO AWARE’S SCREENING SERIES:
The CONNECTIVITY THROUGH CINEMA series will present the work of artists, film-makers and curators who are traveling or presenting special interactive programs in-person. Our hope is to engage the community by showing work with a focus on post-screening discussion.

This event is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC).