'Leopards in the Temple' Film Screening at Sculpture Center, 3/8

Leopards in the Temple Film Screening
with João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva
SculptureCenter
www.sculpture-center.org

João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva
Monday, March 8th, 7:30 PM
at Anthology Film Archives
32 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003

Described as "poetic philosophical fiction", João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva's 16mm films explore and interpret the uncanny through acts of magnetism, transference, and material transformation. Influenced by alchemy, science fiction, ethnography, and speculative philosophy, their silent films question the boundaries of the perceivable world through short, enigmatic scenarios.

In response to the duo's highly suggestive meditation on the paranormal, the great Mandinga astrologer, Master Bafon, had this to say among other responses when asked to interpret the subject matter of João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva's films:

"I tell you: there are stones that have certain powers. Stones have powers and there are many things that come out of them. Sometimes, if you try to pick them up, you can't because they have an extreme force. Many things can be found inside stones." - from a transcription titled In the Age when the Prophet Left his Mark in the Stones, recorded April, 2008.

Having represented Portugal at last year's Venice Biennial, Gusmão and Paiva (collaborators since 2001) will present a selection of more than twenty of their highly suggestive short films, including recently completed 35mm works.

As a part of the SculptureCenter exhibition Leopards in the Temple, the filmmakers will be on hand to introduce their films.

For the complete list of films being screened, please visit SculptureCenter's website.

Upcoming Event

Expanded, Exploded, Collapsed?
Monday, April 19, 6:30 PM

ScuptureCenter at the New School
Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor

With panelists Johanna Burton, Josiah McElheny, and William Pope.L
Moderated by Fionn Meade

Thirty years on from Rosalind Krauss' seminal text Sculpture in the Expanded Field, a panel of artists and critics reconsiders the concept of the "expanded field" in light of contemporary art production. The discussion reflects upon how performative, discursive, and design models developed since the essay's publication may have shifted the formal, political, and semiological parameters of sculpture today.

Presented by SculptureCenter in collaboration with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.

Please visit www.sculpture-center.org for complete information on exhibitions and events.

Photo: João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva, Still from Paramagnetism, 2004.