Free First Thursday Screening!
Tickets available at the PFA Theater starting at 4:30

Fire, flood, the winds indignant, the very earth in spasm-in the hands of artists, these ineluctable forces can speak of one's inner turmoil, of humanity's precarious place in the world, of nature's retribution. Semiconductor's All the Time in the World (U.K., 2005, 5 mins, DVD) renders the earth unstable as image manipulation makes the verdant English coast jerk and wrench. In Bill Morrison's What We Build (2005, 10:48 mins, B&W, DVD), an exquisite composite of flood footage from the 1920s, with nitrate damage crackling at the edges, orchestrates a solemn look at loss. Christina McPhee's SilkyVRML 422 (2005, 4:22 mins, DVD) equates the shockwaves of a quake with the force of memory. Her self-portrait is underscored by an at-depth recording of a recent tectonic event. Meteorological maven George Kuchar has spent a lifetime chasing big weather. In Supercell (2004, 9:16 mins, 3/4” video), the tormented skies of Oklahoma overarch his banquet of supersized suffering. Excerpted from Dolissa Medina's Cartography of Ashes (2006, 5 mins, DVD), a poetic episode celebrates the sole hydrant that stopped the raging fires near Dolores Park after the 1906 earthquake. Also included: Lightning (Paul and Marlene Kos, 1977, 2 mins, B&W, Beta SP); Earthquake Film (Semiconductor, U.K., 2000, 4:30 mins, DVD); Before I Enter (Bill Morrison, 2005, 9 mins, B&W, DVD); SALT (Christina McPhee, 2004, 9:30 mins, DVD).