British artist Tony Sinden is currently teaching at the San Francisco Art Institute. Sinden began making films and expanded cinema in 1966, and has since received several major filmmaking and exhibition awards in Britain. Tonight's program includes a selection of short experimental films and multi-projection pieces, most of which have never been shown on the West Coast. Sinden's introduction will include slides of recent film installations.
Sinden writes:
“The main body of this programme was produced in the period 1972-1982. During which I explored various concerns and perceptual issues, relative to the 'structural/materialist film debate, and events/installations (film & video) that were ‘site specific'. Augmenting material that extended a relationship to the time and place of its evolvement.

“Several of the earlier films attempted to use conventional methods of filmmaking as a ‘foil' to their mode of question and address--viewer relationship. Such as in the films ‘Actor', ‘Edge', ‘This Surface', made as joint films by myself and David Hall in 1972-73.

“Whilst the films ‘AbAbA', ‘Between', ‘Reverse Rotation' and ‘Mechanical Moments'--made between 1972-1976--begin to ‘find' their shape/structure through concerns that challenge preconceptions regarding the predominate ‘look' of film.

“The main concern/direction of my current work, considers the influence of ‘time' in regards to the way it conditions events--that extend beyond the conventional framework/threshold of film. Events that use ‘time & place' as fundamental aspects of their experience.”