"Described by Louis Hock as a 'triptych cine-mural,' Southern California (1979) is identified with precise measurements, like a temporal painting: 30 feet x 7.5 feet x 70 minutes. Phenomenologically speaking, the three-screen technique produces an interesting kind of film rhythm that manages to be both suspenseful and restful, paradoxically at the same time--and oddly evocative of the movement of waves--every time the image ripples across the three projected frames. It also creates a certain analytical relationship between the spectator and the cine-mural as three temporal stages in the same film sequence are viewed at once. "'The work is actually a documentary of the Southern California region,' Hock has written. 'Not the physical region, but the imaginary landscape, the mythical locale.... Using doggeral language, the printed text associated with images addresses the myth from the real, concrete and stucco world on the edge of America, fronting the Pacific. The formal means of presentation acts as a documentary metaphor.' The usual outdoor presentation of the film is an important facet of its meaning for Hock, and he is making a special exception by letting PFA show it inside. He'll also be around to explain what it's like when it's shown outside, among other things." Jonathan Rosenbaum