Three silent films from the 1920s demonstrate the state-of-the-art of the time. Two educational films from 1920, “If We Lived on the Moon” by Max Fleischer, later of Betty Boop and Superman cartoon fame, and “Tides and the Moon” show basic illustrative educational films of the time. By the time of Our Heavenly Bodies, released in 1925, the cinematic possibilities had advanced greatly. Partly a summary of what was known about the solar system, and partly a sci-fi journey on a ship to those planets, Our Heavenly Bodies was a tremendous success in its time. This is one of two programs that consider the question of indexicality in astronomical imagery and visions of space. Indexicality is the idea that traces of the physical world are present in images – photographic or cinematic; questioning it allows viewers to consider how we see and derive meaning from images. Curated by Jane de Almeida, Jheanelle Brown, Adam Hyman.
Interdisciplinary researcher Jane de Almeida works in the arts, film and new media fields, investigating the intersection among media, subjectivity and perception. As a professor and researcher, she was Visiting Scholar in the Department of Philosophy at Boston College (1999), Visiting Fellow in the Department of Architecture and History of Art at Harvard University (2005), guest researcher at MediaLabMadrid (2006), and Visiting Scholar in the Dept. of Communication at University of California, San Diego (2007). She holds a Master degree and a Ph.D. in Communication and Semiotics from the Catholic University of Sao Paulo. Currently, She has been teaching at the Art Department at the Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil and at the Visual Arts Department at University of California, San Diego. She coordinates the Laboratory of Scientific Image (LIC) at the State University of Campinas. She curated several exhibitions such as Harun Farocki: programming the visible at Paço das Artes, Off the Radar at the Visual Arts Gallery at UC San Diego, Ulla, Ulla, Martians, Intergalactics and Aliens at Casanova, Quantum Art at FILE 2024, Ordering and Vertigo at CCBB in Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and São Paulo, among others.
Dave Harrington is a multi-instrumentalist, improviser, composer and producer. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2019, Harrington spent more than a decade in his hometown of New York City working across many different musical communities from downtown improvisation to Brooklyn indie and jambands to warehouse techno, scoring independent films, and producing albums for other artists. He is currently a member of the bands Taper’s Choice and DARKSIDE, and leads his own improvisational groups including Dave Harrington’s Pranksters West, and various assemblies of improvisers.
As a collaborator, Harrington has recorded or performed with artists including Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions, Nels Cline, Miho Hatori, Alanis Morisette, John Medeski, Nate Mercereau, Greg Fox, Nick Murphy (aka Chet Faker), Yuka Honda, Joe Russo, Chris Forsyth, Mauro Refosco, Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), Stuart Bogie, Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), The Antlers, The Master Musicians of Jajouka, Kimbra, Patrick Shiroishi, Max Jaffe, Sophia Brous, Innov Gnawa, Spencer Zahn, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Marshall Allen & The Sun Ra Arkestra, Angel Deradoorian, and many more.
Special thanks to Fleischer Toons & Fabulous Fleischer Cartoons Restored: Mauricio Alvarado, Claire Fleischer, Thad Komorowski, Jane Reid; Munich Film Museum: Stephanie Hausmann, Stefan Drößler.
