Tony Conrad

Date: 13 June 2008 | Season: Tony Conrad | Tags:

TONY CONRAD
13—15 June 2008
London Tate Modern

Tony Conrad is a pivotal figure in contemporary culture. His multi-faceted contributions since the 1960s have influenced and redefined music, filmmaking, minimalism, performance, video and conceptual art. Known for his groundbreaking film The Flicker, his involvement in the Theatre of Eternal Music and the evolution of the Velvet Underground, and collaborations with a host of luminaries including Jack Smith, John Cale, Mike Kelley and Henry Flynt, Conrad remains a radical figure who challenges our understanding of art history. This special weekend at Tate Modern will feature a major new performance for the Turbine Hall and screenings of Conrad’s extraordinary film and video work.

Curated by Stuart Comer, Alice Koegel and Mark Webber. Assistant Curator Vanessa Desclaux.

With thanks to Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne; Ed Carter, Lumen/Evolution; Tracey Ferguson; Florian Härle; Tony Herrington, The Wire; Branden W. Joseph; Christophe Kniel and Ilja Mess; Neil Lagden; Elliot Landy; David Leister; Marie Losier; Eric Namour, [no.signal]; Jay Sanders, Greene Naftali Gallery, New York; Chloë Stewart; Ann Twiselton, MIT Press; Steve Wald; Richard Whitelaw, Sonic Arts Network.

INTRODUCTION

Tony Conrad: Flicker and Process Films

Date: 13 June 2008 | Season: Tony Conrad | Tags:

TONY CONRAD: FLICKER AND PROCESS FILMS
Friday 13 June 2008, at 7pm
London Tate Modern

Minimal cinema with maximal effect. Few films provide the intense, stroboscopic viewing experience of The Flicker, a non-objective film composed only of opaque and clear frames, and a pulsing electronic soundtrack. Conrad’s cinematic debut still astounds audiences four decades after its creation, and will be screened together with other works exploring audio-visual harmonics and the radical production processes of cooked and electrocuted films. 

The screening, introduced by Tony Conrad, will be followed by a reception to celebrate the publication of “Beyond the Dream Syndicate” (Zone Books/MIT).

Tony Conrad, The Flicker, 1966, 30 min
Tony Conrad, Curried 7302, 1973, 2 min
Tony Conrad, 7302 Creole, 1973, 1 min
Tony Conrad, 4-X Attack, 1973, 2 min
Tony Conrad, Film Feedback, 1974, 14 min
Tony Conrad, Articulation of Boolean Algebra for Film Opticals, 1975, 10 min excerpt
Tony Conrad, The Eye of Count Flickerstein, 1967/75, 7 min
Beverly & Tony Conrad, Straight and Narrow, 1970, 10 min

PROGRAMME NOTES

Tony Conrad Takes On Video

Date: 14 June 2008 | Season: Tony Conrad | Tags:

TONY CONRAD TAKES ON VIDEO
Saturday 14 June 2008, at 6pm
London Tate Modern

WHO’S WATCHING WHO?

Tony Conrad investigated the conditions of video production and presentation in a series of tapes which deconstruct or re-appropriate the techniques of TV. Exploiting the reflexive nature of the medium, he critiques the electronic image and notions of history, theory and authority with an irreverent sense of humour. Postmodernism was never this much fun! The artist will introduce this programme of rarely seen works.

Tony Conrad, Concord Ultimatum, 1977, 10 min excerpt
Tony Conrad, Redressing Down, 1988, 18 min
Tony Conrad, Ipso Facto, 1985, 7 min
Tony Conrad, Lookers, 1974, 4 min excerpt
Tony Conrad, Egypt 2000, 1986, 13 min
Tony Conrad, No Europe, 1990, 13 min
Tony Conrad, Accordion, 1981, 5 min
Tony Conrad, In Line, 1986, 7 min

PROGRAMME NOTES

Uprojectable: Projection and Perspective

Date: 14 June 2008 | Season: Tony Conrad | Tags:

UNPROJECTABLE: PROJECTION AND PERSPECTIVE
Saturday 14 June 2008, at 10pm
London Tate Modern

This major new live performance by Tony Conrad is especially conceived for the latent sound and immense scale of the Turbine Hall. Emerging from an installation inspired by the hum of the former power station’s one remaining generator, Conrad’s sonic and visual feast will incorporate an amplified string quartet, electric drill and motors, phonograph arms, film projection and shadows which loom high above the audience.

Conceived and performed by Tony Conrad.

MV Carbon, cello
Tony Conrad, violin
Angharad Davies, violin
Dominic Lash, bass

Steve Wald, production manager
Delta Sound, sound design
Chloë Stewart, projection

This is a free event as part of UBS Openings: Saturday Live.

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Tony Conrad in Conversation

Date: 15 June 2008 | Season: Tony Conrad | Tags:

TONY CONRAD IN CONVERSATION
Sunday 15 June 2008, at 3pm
London Tate Modern

Tony Conrad will discuss his radical breakthroughs in film, video, music and performance with Branden W Joseph, Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at Columbia University, and author of “Beyond the Dream Syndicate: Tony Conrad and the Arts after Cage” (Zone Books/MIT).

The discussion will include a screening of Tony Conrad: DreaMinimalist, the latest in Marie Losier’s ongoing series of film portraits of avant-garde artists (Mike and George Kuchar, Guy Maddin, Richard Foreman). The film offers an insightful and hilarious encounter with Conrad as he sings, dances and remembers his youth and his association with Jack Smith. Marie Losier will be in attendance.

Marie Losier, Tony Conrad: DreaMinimalist, 2008, 25 min

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