Program
**Vlaamperd, HD, 2014, 4'08", Flemish horse race.
*Tian, HD, 2013, 6'42", Shanghai
*Stardust, HD, 2013, 7'00", beauty, dazzle and excess of old Las Vegas.
*Invisible
College, HD, 2013, 4'36", a small group of mystics journey to discover
hidden truths, invoke the night and participate in an initiation that
reveals secret teachings resulting in departing their physical form.
*Alembic, HD, 2013, 3'36", themes of light, distillation, color and breath.
*Prime, 16mm, 2012, 4'49", for Tom Chomont, spirit
portrait evoking psychic states through suggestions with playing cards, hands and face.
*Prasad
at the Mandir, HD, 2011, 6'15", thorough examination of Mandir Temple
with themes of spiritual journey and facing cosmic awareness.
*Astro Mutable Equation, HD, 2011, 6'35", meditation and portrait of friend, musician, Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra.
Noh
Drama, HD, 2010, 5'36", Edo Period Noh Play depicting the life of
husband and wife together with a suggestion of domestic violence.
Biblioteca
Sol Oriens, 16mm, 2005, 8'15", special library of Hermeticism is
examined, revealing a rare collection of texts and imagery.
Ornamental, 16mm, 2005, 3'40", a union of opposites in the Alchemical cycle.
Bandolier, 16mm, 2005, 6'15", a meditation of Anasazi culture, cliff dwellings and Southwest land forms.
Thompson-Neeley House, s-8, 1993, 3'00", a house George Washington slept in becomes a study of filmic time and space.
The Yellow Lion, 16mm, 1998, 6'00", a gentle dance, ritual, allegory, meditation.
**World Premiere
* US Premiere
Event Synopsis:
James
Harrar’s experimental and highly personal film/video images will be
viewed with a live musical rendering of soundtracks for each work. The
musical concepts are created, directed and performed by Harrar, often
with local musicians.
The
project places attention on exploring the moving image with live
performance and when combined, attempts to reveal deeper levels of
interpretation within Harrar’s visceral film poems. This presentation
also celebrates the early beginnings of cinema, providing live music to
support and elevate the silent movie experience.
With
the performance, the viewers will experience the spiritual states of
mind through Harrar’s visual poetry, comparable to a moving painting.
He
will be investigating aspects of his Tiwa/Isleta Pueblo Native American
identity. Harrar believes that language is the essential lifeblood of
any culture. Unfortunately, many Southwestern Native American tribes are
losing the very soul of their heritage. Mythical Tiwa stories and
mystic chants are presented in the Tiwa (Tuei) dialect (a historic first
in New York).
Press quote:
"What
is most refreshing about James Harrar...is extraordinary lack of
pretension with which the whole thing is carried off...Throughout the
performance, one is reminded of Nietzsche's definition of maturity
as the attainment of the seriousness of a child at play." Robert
Barry, The WIRE
JAMES HARRAR BIOGRAPHY:
James
Harrar has been crafting densely lyrical film-poems since the late
1980’s exhibiting at prestigious venues all over the world, such as the
Museum of Modern Art, Anthology Film Archives, Millennium Film Workshop,
The Andy Warhol Museum and Yamaguchi Center for Art & Media to name
a few.
His
films are personal in a very direct
and explicit sense. In an intimate form, Harrar attempts to imprint
thoughts, dreams and conceptual ideas onto the open-minded viewer while
examining the possibilities of perception.
Throughout
his career, Harrar has tried to give the viewer new visual experiences
while challenging fixed notions of filmic language and individual
seeing. Since 1995 James has been collaborating with Marshall Allen,
creating live music to Harrar’s silent films.
