Lamplightings

Five Films by Phil Solomon

Sunday, April 6, 12:30 pm

Free, first come, first served

A master of the alchemical nature of film, Phil Solomon’s cinematic works explore both the surface and the depths of the celluloid image. Solomon’s frequent and anarchic use of the optical printer results in films that could only be created, as well as screened, with wholly physical elements. Nonetheless, the filmmaker’s refusal of dogma led him to adopt new forms of visual storytelling over time, resulting in the unexpected use of footage from the video game series Grand Theft Auto in his later output.

Having just recently passed away in 2019, a survey of Solomon’s work is collected here in a program of five films, including one of his most beloved works, The Snowman. 1988-2007, U.S., 16mm and digital, 64 minutes. Recommended for 13+.

The Secret Garden

“The Secret Garden is one of Solomon’s most exquisite films. As with Thornton and Khlar there is the shadow of a story here, one which deals with the passage from innocence and experience and invokes equally terror and ecstasy…”—Tom Gunning, Mecano Touring Program Catalogue

1988, U.S., 16mm, silent, 17 minutes.

The Exquisite Hour

Partly a lullaby for the dying, partly a lament at the dusk of cinema. Based on the song by Reynaldo Hahn and Paul Verlaine. 1989-94, U.S., 16mm, 14 minutes.

Clepsydra

Clepsydra is an ancient Greek water clock (literally, “to steal water”). This film envisions the strip of celluloid going vertically through a projector as a sprocketed waterfall (random events measured in discreet units of time), through which the silent dreams of a young girl can barely be heard under the din of an irresistible torrent, an irreversible torment. 1992, U.S., 16mm, silent, 14 minutes.

The Snowman

A meditation on memory, burial and decay – a belated kaddish for my father. 1995, U.S., 16mm, 8 minutes.

Rehearsals for Retirement

“A human life brought to an early stillness splashing down in oceanic oblivion searching for the depths of the sky. Darkness at the edge of town, light at the end of the tunnel, a stalled hearse and a souvenir from a dream. We walk in our sleep and fire walks with us. By fire we are consumed. Rehearsing for eternity, for retirement. Life a sum of stolen moments stolen away by the Grand Theft. Next stop, the twilight plane, as an essence scattered, haunting all we ever knew.”—Mark McElhatten

2007, U.S., digital, 11 minutes.

Lamplightings is a free monthly program of experimental and underground film, exploring the past and present of artists’ cinema with an emphasis on screening from 16mm or 35mm film whenever possible.