Serene Velocity (1970)

6pm

event Details

Join us for a rare screening of the 1970 experimental short film, Serene Velocity, by filmmaker Ernie Gehr. Serene Velocity is twenty-three minutes in duration and is without sound. To make the film, Gehr locked his camera down in the centre of the hallway, shooting 4 frames at a time. Between each set of exposures, he changed the focal length on the lens, zooming in and then out in increasing increments.

What begins as a small difference in apparent distance over time expands to extreme close ups and wide shots jumping back and forth. By the end of the film, the zoom into the end of the hallway reveals a set of double doors with daylight filtering through.

The film is now recognized as a key work of structural filmmaking and has been inducted into the American National Film Registry. 

The screening is bought to you in association with the Michael Stevenson exhibition on Level 2, the major new commission Michael Stevenson: Serene Velocity in Practice: MC510/CS183, 2017 for which the film is critical component.

Date
Location
Auditorium, clock tower entrance