Press Room

'Life with Technology: The Cinema of Godfrey Reggio' Series Will Survey the Director’s Work Including a Special Screening of 'Visitors' on January 21

Master Class with the Director on January 23

New York, NY (December 17, 2013)

The Museum of Arts and Design presents a full cinematic retrospective of Godfrey Reggio’s work this winter with its latest film series, Life with Technology: The Cinema of Godfrey Reggio, from January 16 through March 14, 2014. The series showcases the director’s career thus far, with six films—all scored by composer Philip Glass­—including the complete Qatsi Trilogy, two rarely seen short films Anima Mundi and Evidence, as well as a special screening of his most recent film Visitors. MAD will also host a master class with the director on January 23.

Godfrey Reggio has been a major figure and force in cinema for over three decades; his filmmaking first gained international acclaim with the 1982 release of Koyaanisqatsi, a wordless juxtaposition of moving images and music that traces humanity’s complex relationship with modern technology and the natural world. Deeply informed by Reggio’s roots as a political activist and his years spent as a Christian Brother and Catholic monk, his films challenge traditional cinematic narrative structures and eschew simple interpretations, instead resonating as intensely rhythmic visual poems.

Powaqqatsi (1988) and Naqoyqatsi (2002) completed the Qatsi Trilogy and further cemented the director’s cult status. Accompanying the films’ collaged footage of time-lapsed and slow motion images is the extraordinary score of composer Philip Glass, whose haunting and rhythmical composition works in tandem with Reggio’s visceral cinematography to create a deeply sensorial cinematic experience.

In his most recent collaboration with Glass, more than thirty years after the release of Koyaanisqatsi, Reggio returns to cinema’s forefront with Visitors (2013), a wordless portrait of modern life shot in stunning black-and-white Digital 4K, and presented by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. With only 74 shots, Visitors offers a meditative look into humanity’s trancelike relationship with technology.  As part of the series Life with Technology: The Cinema of Godfrey Reggio, MAD will host a special screening of Visitors on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 7pm, in anticipation of the film’s January 24 New York theatrical release through Cinedigm, at the Landmark Sunshine.

RARE MASTER CLASS WITH GODFREY REGGIO

On Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 7pm, Reggio and filmmaker Jon Kane will lead an intimate master class at the Museum and discuss Reggio’s career, collaborations and experiential approach to filmmaking.

Tickets to A Master Class with Godfrey Reggio are $12 for general admission and $8 for members and students with valid ID.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Life with Technology: The Cinema of Godfrey Reggio is a full retrospective presented by The Museum of Arts and Design. Film screenings will be held in the Theater at MAD, at 2 Columbus Circle.

Life with Technology: The Cinema of Godfrey Reggio is organized by Jake Yuzna, Director of Public Programs.

Tickets may be purchased by phone at 1-800-838-3006 or online via http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/531596?date=953176

For more information about the series, visit http://madmuseum.org/series/life-technology-cinema-godfrey-reggio

SCHEDULE

Short Film Works by Godfrey Reggio
Thursday, January 16, 2014, 7pm
Encore screening, Thursday, February 13, 2014, 7pm
Free with Museum Admission

Anima Mundi (1992)
Music by Philip Glass
28 minutes

Commissioned by Italian company Bulgari as part of the World Wildlife Foundation’s Biological Diversity campaign, Reggio’s Anima Mundi works as a powerful speechless-narrative and poetic cinematic essay that explores man’s complex relationship with the natural world. The short film features over seventy animal species and celebrates the variety and beauty of the world’s fauna.

Evidence (1995)
Music by Philip Glass
7 minutes

Filmed in Rome and co-authored by Reggio during his term as director of Fabrica, a school fostering exploration and production in the arts, media and technology, this seven-minute film is a surprising depiction of entranced children watching television, offering an intriguing perspective into the subtle but profound effects of modern life on children.

Visitors (2013)
Music by Philip Glass
Tuesday, January 21, 2014, 7pm
MAD Members only

The fourth collaboration between Reggio and Glass, together with filmmaker Jon Kane and presented by Steven Soderbergh, Visitors is a black-and-white digital 4K projection that reveals humanity’s trancelike relationship with technology. The film is visceral, and provides an experience beyond information about the digitized moment in which we live. Composed of only 74 shots, Visitors creates a meditative journey that confronts viewers with themselves and prompts a reconsideration of what it means to view the world via technology.

MAD is hosting a special advance screening of Visitors on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 7pm, in anticipation of the film’s January 24 New York theatrical release through Cinedigm at the Landmark Sunshine.

Master Class with Godfrey Reggio
Thursday, January 23, 2014, 7pm
$12 General, $8 Members and Students

This seminar-style program will offer the opportunity to hear Reggio speak on the scope of his career and collaborations, and gain insight into his experiential approach to filmmaking. Filmmaker Jon Kane will join the discussion. 

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Music by Philip Glass
Friday January 31, 2014, 7pm
Encore screening, Friday, February 28, 2014, 7pm
$10 General, $5 MAD Members and Students

The first film of Reggio’s Qatsi Trilogy illustrating the relationship between humans, technology and nature, Koyaanisqatsi, translating from the Hopi language to “life out of balance,” is a film masterfully collaged from unscripted slow motion and time-lapsed footage. Images ranging from bustling urban landscapes to monumental rock formations are paired with composer Philip Glass’ groundbreaking cinematic score to create an experiential look into the effects of industrialization and modern technology on the natural world.

Powaqqatsi (1988)
Music by Philip Glass
Thursday, February 6, 2014, 7pm
Encore screening, Friday, March 7, 2014, 7pm
$10 General, $5 MAD Members and Students

Powaqqatsi ("Life in Transformation"), released in 1988, literally slows down our trip around the world, focusing on the global effect of industrialization in the Southern Hemisphere. Exploring how spirituality influences and is influenced by the technology of our modern world, Powaqqatsi continues the Qatsi Trilogy as it focuses our attention on the next generation of humanity as it confronts the rapidly changing landscape.

Naqoyqatsi (2002)
Music by Philip Glass
Friday, February 7^th, 2014, 7pm
Encore screening, Friday, March 14^th, 2014, 7pm
$10 General, $5 MAD Members and Students

Naqoyqatsi ("Life as War"), the final chapter of the Qatsi Trilogy, is perhaps the most forceful and provocative. Through a variety of cinematic techniques, including slow motion, time-lapse, computer-generated imagery and found footage, the film tells of a world that has completed the transition from the natural to the artificial, depicting a decline in human language and rise of impersonal communication, virtual reality and "civilized violence." While the film is already twelve years old, viewing it today makes its message all the more profound, since a few of the technological aspects of the film appear charmingly outdated, revealing just how rapidly innovation takes place and shapes our perceptions.   

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) explores the value of making across all fields of contemporary creative practice. The Museum focuses on the ways in which artists and designers transform the world around us, through processes ranging from the artisanal to the digital. MAD’s exhibition program is dedicated to creativity and craftsmanship, and demonstrates the limitless potential of materials and techniques when used by gifted and innovative artists. The Museum’s permanent collection is global in scope and includes art, craft, and design from 1950 to the present day. At the center of the Museum's mission is education. The Museum houses classrooms and studios for master classes, seminars, and workshops for students, families, and adults. Three open studios engage visitors in the creative processes of artists at work and enhance the exhibition programs. Lectures, films, performances, and symposia related to the Museum’s collection and subjects across the full spectrum of making practices are held in a renovated 144-seat auditorium.