Drawing upon her experiences with hearing loss, specifically navigating between hearing and silence, Alison O’Daniel expands definitions of sonic experience beyond ear-reliance as our sole auditory skill. In The Tuba Thieves, the artist’s fascination with a series of tuba robberies from Los Angeles high schools became a comparison point between loss of this tonally-rich instrument to her daily experiences of missing information and filling in conversation gaps.
This on-going, multi-chapter video project threads together anecdotes of the marching bands’ reconciling the missing sound, footage of the deaf drummer Nyke Prince, the premiere of John Cage’s 4’33” in 1952, and the last punk show at the Deaf Club in San Francisco in 1979.
O’Daniel’s process is a form of call and response: she inverts script-driven filmmaking processes by writing scenes based on the musical scores, which were commissioned in advance of developing the visual narratives from a variety of artists, including deaf sound artist Christine Sun Kim, hearing-painter and musician Steve Roden, and the late, hearing-composer Ethan Frederick Greene. The result is an amalgam of disparate, non-linear narratives.
Featured sequences:
SCENES 5, 6, 60: HEARING 4’33” - 9min 52sec
SCENE 22: THE DEAF CLUB - 6min 17sec
SCENES 46, 47: AWAY GAME - 7min 41sec
SCENES 48, 57: NYKE and the NEW YORK KITE ENTHUSIASTS IN SANTA MONICA - 10min 20sec
SCENE 61: CK’s version: KALEIDOSCOPIC WINDOW - 5min 48sec
Interludes: THE SEA, THE STARS, A LANDSCAPE – 18min 7sec
SCENE 55: THE PLANTS ARE PROTECTED – 12min 5sec
This series invites engagement with hidden histories and contexts unearthed with the aid of moving image media. Programs explore the myriad shades of nuance in disciplinary synthesis and delight in the discovery of new relationships between poetry, artifactology, and cinema.
CREDITS
Henry online programs are made possible in part by the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
ADMISSION
Sliding scale admission: $0–25
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* HOW TO WATCH *
- Purchase a ticket through Brown Paper Tickets in advance of the listed showtime (PST). Registration ends 1 hour before the start time.
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- If by showtime you do not receive an e-mail with details, please contact rana@nwfilmforum.org for a quick follow-up. (But please, check your spam!)
ACCESS
This event is public.
ACCESSIBILITY
Accessible from wherever you might find internet access!