Light Matter is an annual festival dedicated to experimental film and media art
Light Matter 2023 is a wrap! Thanks to our dedicated audiences for making the festival a success. LM will have several traveling programs across the US in 2024.
Light Matter 2024 will take place November 1-3, 2024.
Mark your calendars now!
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Light Matter 2023
Alfred, NY
November 3-5, 2023
ABBREVIATED PROGRAM SCHEDULE
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 3 (HOLMES AUDITORIUM)
4:30 PM – Program 1 (100 minutes)
7:30 PM – Program 2 (124 minutes)
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4 (HOLMES AUDITORIUM)
1:00 PM – Program 3 (60 minutes)
2:30 PM – Program 4 (80 minutes)
4:30 PM – Program 5 (94 minutes)
7:30 PM – Program 6 (177 minutes – screened in Two Parts)
Part Two begins at 9:30 PM
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 5 (NEVINS THEATER)
1:00 PM – Program 7 (263 minutes – screened in Two Parts with an additional breather)
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS INSTALLED:
AND
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRODUCED BY OPENAI/CHATGPT 3.5 (the free one) with additional clarification by a human
Introducing the Third Annual "Light Matter" Experimental Film and Media Art Festival
Alfred, NY - October 10, 2023 - Prepare to embark on a visual journey like no other as "Light Matter," the celebrated Experimental Film and Media Art Festival, returns for its third annual edition in the picturesque village of Alfred, NY, from November 3rd to 5th. Curated by James Hansen, this year's festival promises to be a mind-bending experience, showcasing the work of both emerging and established artists from around the globe.
With over 90 films from 34 countries and more than 1000 minutes of programming, "Light Matter" pushes the boundaries of experimental cinema and media art. Featuring 8 World Premieres, 24 North American / USA Premieres, and 24 New York State premieres, it is a celebration of the avant-garde, where visual storytelling takes on new and exciting forms. This year's festival boasts a diverse selection of films and programs, ensuring there's something for everyone [lol].
Special programs at "Light Matter" will elevate the festival experience to new heights.
On Saturday, attendees will have the unique opportunity to witness a presentation by Tara Merenda Nelson (Curator and Director of Public Programs at Visual Studies Workshop) featuring Luther Price's 35mm slides, coinciding with the release of the book "New Utopia: Slides by Luther Price" (VSW Press, 2023). This event promises to be a captivating exploration of art in its most experimental form.
Although Light Matter is known for shorts programs, Saturday will include the North American premiere of renowned media artist Joost Rekveld’s abstract science-fiction feature film “Mechanisms Common to Disparate Phenomena: #59) (2022) in which all images were produced by analog electronic signals, in a re-enactment of antiquated ways of computer. A reflection on the 1961 independent discoveries of deterministic chaos by Edward Lorenz and Yoshisuke Ueda, “Mechanisms…” is a powerful film that has to be seen to be believed!
FLICKER WARNING! Sunday will mark the 30th anniversary of the passing of the legendary artist Paul Sharits [fact check: Sharits passed on July 8, 2023], and "Light Matter" will honor his legacy with a special program. Audiences will have the rare chance to view two seldom-screened silent 16mm films, "Analytic Frame Study II" and "Declarative Mode." The Sunday extravaganza, a nearly four-and-a-half-hour shorts program, will also feature 16mm screenings of Marie Menken's "Excursions" and Joyce Wieland's "Hand Tinting," amongst an exciting selection of contemporary films It's a day dedicated to celebrating the rich history of experimental cinema.
In addition to these special programs, "Light Matter" will feature seven shorts programs running alongside exhibitions in the Harland Snodgrass/TS1 Gallery and the Immersive Gallery.
The festival embraces a diverse range of themes, from feminism and visual abstraction to 3D and AI-generated content, ensuring a dynamic and thought-provoking experience for all attendees.
"Light Matter" is not just a film festival; it's a celebration of experimental moving image art that cannot be missed. It challenges the conventions of cinema and dares to explore the uncharted territories of visual storytelling.
Flicker warning: this festival promises to push the boundaries of your perception and leave you in awe. Are your eyeballs ready for a workout? Join us at "Light Matter" from November 3rd to 5th in Alfred, NY, and immerse yourself in the world of experimental film and media art.
For more information and to purchase tickets [ALL SCREENINGS ARE FREE], please visit www.lightmatterfestival.com.For more information or press/media contact, write James at lightmatterfilmfestival@gmail.com and follow Light Matter on Instagram.
About "Light Matter": "Light Matter" is an annual experimental film and media art festival dedicated to pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling. Curated by James Hansen, the festival showcases the work of emerging and established artists from around the world, celebrating the avant-garde in cinema and media art. "Light Matter" offers a unique platform for artists to explore new forms of expression and captivate audiences with their innovative creations.
Light Matter is supported by the Dean’s Office of Alfred University’s School of Art and Design (New York State College of Ceramics), the Institute for Electronic Arts, the Expanded Media division and the Art History division.
The curator would like to acknowledge the unpaid labor of Erin Taylor and Micah Alhadeff who substantially contributed to Light Matter 2023.
The website will be updated in the coming weeks with more information on individual films
LIGHT MATTER 2023 FULL SCHEDULE
* denotes returning artist
FRIDAY NOV 3 (Holmes)
4:30 PM – Program One: Transparence
Blanca Garvia, ipse (I watched the Moon around the House), 15 minutes, Spain
Arash Akbari, Bec0m1ng, 2 minutes, Iran
*Stephanie Barber, The Enlightenment, 12 minutes, USA
Friedl vom Gröller, Entrucken, 3 minutes, Austria
Alvin Nugroho, JENNIFER, 2 minutes, Indonesia
Wayne Koestenbaum, I Started Selling Sadness, 3 minutes, USA
Mark Street, Clear Ice Fern, 12 minutes, USA
*Matt Whitman, Today is a Very Special Day, some-times, 8 minutes, USA
Barbara Lattanzi, Perpetual Conjunction, 2 minutes, USA
Luciana Decker, Spoils, 8 minutes, Bolivia
*Erica Sheu, It follows it passes on, 5 minutes, Taiwan
DataSpaceTime (Lisa Gwilliam/Ray Sweeten), Palinopsia, 10 minutes, USA
Lori Felker, Patient, 20 minutes, USA
7:30 PM – Program Two: Body Party
Bridget Coderc, Hither & Thither, 5 minutes, UK
*April Lin, Fiebre, 2 minutes, Sweden
Lorelei d’Anriole, Halo is a Symbol, 8 minutes USA
*S4RA, RAVE, 9 minutes, Portugal
Miriam Simun, Interspecies Robot Sex, 20 minutes, USA
[pause]
Sofia Theodore-Pierce, Exterior Turbulence, 11 minutes, USA
Sasha Waters, Ashes of Roses, 12 minutes, USA
Peggy Ahwesh/Jackie Goss, OR 119, 55 minutes USA
SATURDAY NOV 4 (Holmes)
1 PM – Program 3: Luther Price Slides & Presentation by Tara Merenda Nelson (60 minutes)
2:30 PM – Program 4: Artifice? What Artifice?
Tina Frank, PROTOTIPO, 4 minutes, Austria
Nini Korkalo, The Best Lover, 13 minutes, Finland
*Mandy Eugienou, Kompromat, 7 minutes, UK
Gioula Papadopoulou, AI made me do it: Ophelia, 2 minutes, Greece
Victoria Schmid, NYC RGB, 8 minutes, Austria
Michael Mersereau, Haxan:Reducida, 6 minutes, USA
Lilan Yang, The Perfect Human, 13 minutes, China
Ian Haig, AI Lobotomy, 2 minutes, Australia
*Alex Broadwell, Refuse 2 (Disc), 2 minutes, USA
Sarah Ballard, to be with you (grotto), 3 minutes, USA
Blake Williams, Laberint Sequences, 20 minutes, Canada
4:30 PM – Program 5: Chaos
Ben Balcom & Julie Niemi, Growing Up Absurd, 15 minutes, USA
Joost Rekveld, Mechanisms Common to Disparate Phenomena #59, 79 minutes, Netherlands
7:30 PM – Program 6: Paradise
Part One (93 minutes)
Colectivo Los Ingravidos, The Floating Gardens, 5 minutes, Mexico
Andres Medina, Stained Night, 11 minutes, Argentina
Piibe Kolka, Cellula Filia, 22 minutes, Estonia
Getong Wang, Dream of Splendor, 8 minutes, China
Eduardo Gutierrez, Refraction, 9 minutes, Peru
Jude Abu Zaineh, FORMations, 5 minutes, Canada/Palestine
Charles Kadkin, Superfund, 3 minutes, USA
*Laura Kraning, de-composition, 3 minutes, USA
Hogan Seidel, Konstantin, 3 minutes, USA
Micah Weber, Reservoir, 8 minutes, USA
*Leonardo Pirondi, Vision of Paradise, 16 minutes, Brazil
[Break –
Part Two will begin at 9:30 PM]
Part Two (84 minutes)
*Arvcuken Noquisi, Kolaswvt Vfulles, 11 minutes, Muscogee Nation
Hiroya Sakurai, The Stream XII-II, 5 minutes, Japan
Wai Yin Yan, Muted Bridges 4 minutes, Hong Kong
Saif Alsaegh, Bezuna, 8 minutes, USA/Iraq
Ogochukwu Azuya, Swimming in a Sea of Trauma, Nigeria, 7 minutes
Teresita Carson, Monolith, 14 minutes, Mexico
Yusuf Demirors, Suya Dokun (Touch the Water), 8 minutes, USA/Turkey
*Zsolt Gyenes, ElectroLandscape, 3 minutes, Hungary
Justin Jinsoo Kim, The Far and Near, 10 minutes, Korea
*Alexandre Alagoa, When I Close My Eyes, I See Everything, 14 minutes, Portugal
SUNDAY NOV 5 (Nevins)
1 PM – Program 7: Unframing
Part One (130 minutes)
Paul Sharits, Analytical Frame Study II, 30 minutes, 16mm, USA
Simon Payne, Edges: Mirrors, 5 minutes, UK
*Michael Lyons, Parts, 5 minutes, Japan
Mike Stoltz, Tomorrow: it’s not too late to join, 8 minutes, USA
Joanna Byrne, Diane (wrapped in plastic), 4 minutes, UK
Esperanza Collado, Tragame nube , 13 minutes Spain
Caique Poi, Recycling, 2 minutes, Brazil
Jordan Wong, I Would’ve Been Happy, 9 minutes, USA
Sam Taffel, Jews Harp or: Harpaud, 7 minutes, USA
*Ignacio Tamarit, Sin titulo, 2 minutes, Argentina
Joyce Wieland, Hand Tinting, 8 minutes, 16mm, Canada
Oakley Mertes, It’s time to patch up my own soul, 3 minutes, USA
Joshua Gen Solondz, We Don’t Talk Like We Used To, 36 minutes, USA
[break –
Part Two will begin at 4:30 PM]
Unframing, Part Two (133 minutes)
Marie Menken, Excursions, 5 minutes, 16mm, USA
*Linnea Nugent, In the Fishtank, 3 minutes, USA
Roger Deutsch, Flame of the Spent Hour, 8 minutes, Hungary
Yasaman Baghban, I Was Born in 1988, 9 minutes, Iran
Maximilien Luc Proctor, Fluid Fragments, 4 minutes, 16mm, Germany
Nicholas Christensen, Sightreading, 3 minutes, 16mm, Germany
Anna Kipervaser, Next Her Heart, 12 minutes, Ukraine
Tina Sulc Resnik, Retreat, 1 minutes, Slovenia
Louise Borque, Bye Bye Now, 9 minutes, Canada
*Abindai Meza, Tlaloc (Lines Drawn in Water), 9 minutes, USA
[15-minute breather]
Emily Apter/Elijah Stevens, bliss.jpg, 10 minutes, USA
Izabella Retkowska, Anamnesis, 1 minutes, Poland
*Ross Meckfessel, Spark from a Falling Star, 21 minutes, USA
Paul Sharits, Declarative Mode, 39 minutes, 16mm, USA
SNODGRASS/TS1 GALLERY (Nov 1 – 15) --- 85 minutes
Anna Utopia Giordano & Carlo Alleva, Entelechy (or on the sense of duty), Italy, 5 minutes
*Jason & Deborah Bernagozzi, Ritual for Synthetic Media, 19 minutes, USA
Nilson Carroll, me with and without my brain, 8 minutes, USA
Barry Doupé, RED HOUSE, 3 minutes, Canada
Melissa Faivre, The Becoming, 5 minutes, France
Joris Guibert, DATAVISION, 5 minutes, France
Mary Tiffany Lewandowski, Body Building, 11 minutes, USA
Simon Payne, Intervals, 10 minutes, UK
Francisco Rios, Education Lost, 13 minutes, Ecuador
Edwin Rostron, Help Desk, 3 minutes, UK
Ajunie Virk, When I Said Express I Meant the Train, Not the Clothing Brand, 3 minutes, USA
*David Witzling, Discriminator Loss, 9 minutes, USA
IMMERSIVE GALLERY (Nov 3-5) --- 76 minutes
Damian Anache, Compre(hen)ssion of Artifacts, 6 minutes, Argentina
Pierre Avajon, Motorik Innervisions, 8 minutes, France
Kjell Bjørgeengen, Ultra HF44, 11 minutes, Norway
Jenn Grossman, dark forest // invincible summer, 10 minutes, USA
*Justin Rhody, Abigail Smith, Ben Kujawski, Same Old Santa, 14 minutes, USA
Kit Young, Thalassophobia, 16 minutes, USA
Martin Moolhuijsen, grain cloud atmosphere, 7 minutes, USA
Valentin Sismann, Plasforms, 5 minutes, France
Light Matter is Curated by James Hansen
Website Assistance Provided by Javiera Cisterna Cortés
Support provided by School of Art & Design Dean's Office (NYSCC) at
Alfred University, the Divisions of Expanded Media & Art History,
and the Institute for Electronic Arts.