Museum of the Moving Image Announces SPECIAL EFFECT, 1/18

Museum of the Moving Image will present the U.S. premiere of video and performance artist Peter Burr's Special Effect, a live television show from the future inspired by Andrei Tarkovsky's 1971 film Stalker. The performance features screenings of 20 short animations from underground video label Cartune Xprez, original music from Lucky Dragons and Seabat, and live performances by Burr involving laser beams, green screens, and a hacked Kinect camera.

The animations in the show, all of which are 30-second works commissioned by Cartune Xprez, were made by underground animators from across the country (see below for contributors) and will be presented by Burr as the live host of an imagined television show. The videos as well as Burr's performance were inspired by "The Zone," an off-limits place of hope and possibility rumored to make one's deepest desires come true that is the central setting in Tarkovsky's film. Burr recently returned from an Australian tour where Special Effect had its world premiere.

"It's hard to tell whether Burr has infiltrated television (and is now pulling the strings), whether it has absorbed him, or somehow both. The implication is that he has collaged himself at once into television and into our heads, channeling our subconscious, co-opting our illusions."-OtherFilm Festival 2012 (Brisbane, Australia)

This program was organized for the Museum by Jason Eppink, Associate Curator of Digital Media.

Tickets for Special Effect are $15 public / $9 Museum members / free for Silver Screen members and above. Advance tickets are available online at http://movingimage.us or by phone at 718 777 6800.