Instead of continually bemoaning that the pandemic is denying me access to physical spaces and the stuff they hold (books, art, films, etc.), Iâm trying to think of this period of intangibility as one of research for future consumption. The list of âthings to read and seeâ is growing, but this only makes me more excited for the day when I can start checking things off. The latest (heavily underlined) addition, thanks to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archiveâs Out of the Vault online series, is the life and work of painter and experimental filmmaker Sara Kathryn Arledge.
Out of the Vault highlights works in the museumâs collection and, as a result, the importance of archival care. Its current offering, a streaming package of six short videosâdigitized versions of Arledgeâs mesmerizing work, along with an introduction by film curator Kathy Geritz and biographical presentation by Terry Cannonâis one of the most persuasive cases for preserving strange and precarious artwork that Iâve ever heard.
BAMPFA holds Arledgeâs films, transparencies and papers thanks to Cannon, who met the artist in 1976 when he was director of Pasadena FilmForum, and who passed away in August 2020. Arledge was in her mid-60s when they met, and while Cannon was thrilled to present her experimental films to new audiences, she was busy with another medium at the time: tiny paintings made on glass slide transparencies to which she melted fragments of colored lighting gels, manipulating the surfaces with toothpicks, Q-tips, napkins and pens.
Sara Kathryn Arledge. (Courtesy BAMPFA)
Cannon describes these small paintings, which Arledge would enlarge by projecting light through them, as having a three-dimensional âundulating sparkle effectâ impossible to fully capture in reproduction. And hereâs where BAMPFAâs presentation of Arledgeâs work whets the palate. One video is a silent slideshow of too many of Arledgeâs transparencies to count, the other a âstableâ film she made to document her fragile black-and-white transparency work, Interior Garden II (1978). Both induce the feeling of staring up at a night sky and trying to identify constellations; both filled me with an urge to learn as much as I could about Arledgeâs enigmatic work.
I wonât spoil the nail-biter of a story Cannon tells of how he came to be in charge of Arledgeâs oeuvre. She died in a Santa Cruz care facility in 1998 after living with dementia for many years. Her life story spans the state, with stints in Pasadena and the Bay Area (enjoying the local experimental film community and teaching at California College of Arts and Crafts). And her films still hold power, as evidenced by the ethereal dance-filled piece Introspections (1941â47) and the slyly cryptic What is a Man? (1958).
If, after watching all of the above, you feel as I did (hungry for more), youâll be happy to know the rental of BAMPFAâs streaming package includes access to a live event on Sunday, March 15 at 5pm PST: a celebration and reading of Serene for the Moment, a new book published by Pasadenaâs Armory Center for the Arts, and the first extended monograph on Arledgeâs work.
âSara Kathryn Arledgeâs Films and Artâ is streaming on BAMPFA through April 11. Details here.
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