Screening on 16mm, the program will begin at 7:30pm and last approximately 1 hour.

Read Lord’s article on Gary Beydler in the current issue

Hosted by Armory Center for the Arts (626) 792-5101

Pick up a copy of the issue, meet the contributors and editors, and enjoy these three rare films from LA-based artist Gary Beydler (1944-2010).

More about the films:

Hand Held Day (6 min., color, 1974, 16mm)

This piece is about endurance, contrasts in the natural environment and the tensions produced by the “screen” with in a screen. I made the film on a mountain top in Arizona over a continuous period of 14 hours, from dawn to sunset. I held a small mirror in my right hand facing west which was framed in the camera facing east. An intervelometer controlled the camera and was set to take on frame every 6-7 seconds. The film was over when it was too dark to see. (Beydler)Pasadena Freeway Stills (6 min., color, 1974, 16mm)

The film is about the construction of a motion picture film in exactly the same way an object is made. By assembling its parts. By re-photographing the process I create the illusion of driving through the Pasadena freeway tunnels. (Beydler)Venice Pier (18 min, color, sound, 16mm)

This film creates the unusual effect of moving forward in space (down the pier) and forward and backward in time. I filmed it on the public fishing pier at the end of Washington Blvd in Venice, California. [. . .] The scenes were shot in random order over a period of a year in various weather conditions and time of day. These segments were edited together in correct numerical order so as to give the effect of slowly progressing tot he end of the pier in small steps. However, as you proceed forward through space, time is shifting “forward” and “backward,” sometimes in winter and sometimes in summer, sometimes empty and sometimes crowded. On occasion you will see a person half way through the film that you saw toward the beginning. In five scenes you will move forward 60 feet and possibly go through a rain storm, a clear summer dawn, a red cloud sunset, a dense fog morning, and have a yellow beach maintenance van appear on an overcast afternoon and drive by slowly. While most films distort time to some degree, I don’t believe any have ever done it in quite the way that Venice Pier does. (Beydler)