L@TE CLOSES OUT THE 2011 SCHEDULE WITH FOUR NEW EVENTS, FEATURING A RETURN PERFORMANCE BY ELLEN FULLMAN ON THE LONG STRING INSTRUMENT; A COLLABORATION BETWEEN WOBBLY AND MEMBERS OF NEGATIVLAND; SOUND ART BY PAUL DEMARINIS AND LAETITIA SONAMI; AND AN EVENING OF VIDEO COLLAGE AND PERFORMANCE INSPIRED BY KURT SCHWITTERS'S MERZBAU

Berkeley, CA, October 25, 2011-(Download a PDF version of this press release.)The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive announces the November/December 2011 line-up for L@TE: Friday Nights @ BAM/PFA.

On November 4 guest programmer and artist Kamau Patton continues his series of L@TE events inspired by artist Kurt Schwitters with an evening simply titled Sound Art. Local artists Paul DeMarinis and Laetitia Sonami (who also performed at L@TE in May 2010) team up to bring Kurt Schwitters's epic sound poem Ursonate to life with an electric orchestra of pickle jars-shock buzzes in liquid produce rhythms and syllables-accompanied by a modern version of early abstract light machines. Then art collective 0th will perform a site-specific work incorporating music, video, and dance. As dancers organize and disorganize themselves throughout the space, they will project live video onto a sculptural screen. Patton's interest in Schwitters culminates on December 2 with otherworld (machine). The event brings together multiple sites of production and multiplicities of bodies to create layered image collages, inspired by Schwitters's monumental sculptural/architectural creation Merzbau. Real-time video files captured at two locations within the building are layered and edited simultaneously, incorporating video effects. The performers are both live and prerecorded, the seen objects are both virtually produced and real. The project is a collaboration among Lisa Wymore (UC Berkeley's Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies), Sheldon Smith (Mills College's Department of Dance), John Crawford (UC Irvine's Dance Department), and Ryan Ross Smith (Mills College).


On November 18 Ellen Fullman, who performed at L@TE two years ago, returns for a performance on her Long String Instrument. Dozens of metallic strings, some seventy feet long, will stretch in parallel across our main atrium space Gallery B, and rosin-coated fingers will brush across the strings, producing a chorus of organ-like overtones that has been likened to the experience of standing inside an enormous grand piano. Fullman performs a new work called Tracings, a chamber ensemble piece specifically composed for BAM/PFA and Battle Hall in Austin. The composition incorporates sounds and harmonies based on the measured architectural features and resonant frequencies of each building. Fullman's performance is arranged by continuing guest programmer Sarah Cahill.

The 2011 L@TE schedule concludes with Boopers and Bloopers: The Artistry of Inappropriate Appropriation, programmed by BAM/PFA Video Curator Steve Seid. Composed of members from the notorious collage group Negativland and electronic musician/composer/DJ Jon Leidecker (a.k.a. Wobbly), NegativWobblyland abandons cut-and-paste for the volatile magic of Boopers, analog feedback instruments created entirely from salvaged radio and amplifier parts. Meanwhile artist Bryan Boyce reclaims and recycles film, video, and news footage and images from popular culture-destroying media in order to save it. Prior to the performance, Wobbly will perform a DJ set at 6:30 p.m.

L@TE Calendar
Friday night programs begin at 7:30 p.m.; doors open at 5 p.m. with DJs filling the galleries with sound at most events beginning at 6:30 p.m.

November 4
Sound Art
Featuring Paul DeMarinis and Laetitia Sonami and 0th
Programmed by Kamau Patton
Doors 5 p.m. / DJ 6:30 p.m. / Performance 7:30 p.m.

November 18
Ellen Fullman: Tracings
Programmed by Sarah Cahill
Doors 5 p.m. / DJ 6:30 p.m. / Performance 7:30 p.m.

December 2
otherworld (machine)
Programmed by Kamau Patton
Doors 5 p.m. / DJ 6:30 p.m. / Performance 7:30 p.m.

December 9
Boopers and Bloopers: The Artistry of Inappropriate Appropriation
NegativWobblyland & Bryan Boyce
Programmed by Steve Seid
Doors 5 p.m. / Wobbly (DJ) 6:30 p.m. / Performance 7:30 p.m.

$7 After 5
General admission to the BAM/PFA galleries is $7 after 5 p.m. on L@TE Fridays. Show your ticket for a same-day PFA screening or gallery visit and get in to L@TE free. Admission is always free for BAM/PFA members and UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff.

About L@TE
L@TE: Friday Nights @ BAM/PFA is the institution's afterhours program, featuring guest programmers-as well as BAM/PFA curators-who showcase mostly local artists, musicians, filmmakers, performance artists, and other creative types resulting in a series of eclectic performance and events. Galleries are kept open until 9 p.m. Programs begin at 7:30 p.m. in Gallery B; doors open at 5 p.m.

Credit
L@TE is made possible in part by the continued support of the BAM/PFA Trustees. Special thanks to our media sponsors, East Bay Express and San Francisco Bay Guardian.

More Online
For updates and advance tickets, visit bampfa.berkeley.edu/late.

About BAM/PFA
Founded in 1963, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) is UC Berkeley's primary visual arts venue and among the largest university art museums in terms of size and audience in the United States. Internationally recognized for its art and film programming, BAM/PFA is a platform for cultural experiences that transform individuals, engage communities, and advance the local, national and global discourse on art and ideas. BAM/PFA's mission is “to inspire the imagination and ignite critical dialogue through art and film.”

BAM/PFA presents approximately fifteen art exhibitions and 380 film programs each year. The museum's collection of over 16,000 works of art includes important holdings of Neolithic Chinese ceramics, Ming and Qing Dynasty Chinese painting, Old Master works on paper, Italian Baroque painting, early American painting, Abstract Expressionist painting, contemporary photography, and video art. Its film archive of over 14,000 films and videos includes the largest collection of Japanese cinema outside of Japan, Hollywood classics, and silent film, as well hundreds of thousands of articles, reviews, posters, and other ephemera related to the history of film, many of which are digitally scanned and accessible online.

Berkeley Art Museum Information
Location: 2626 Bancroft Way, just below College Avenue across from the UC Berkeley campus.

Gallery and Museum Store Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Open L@TE Fridays until 9 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Information: 24-hour recorded message (510) 642-0808; fax (510) 642-4889; TDD (510) 642-8734.

Website: bampfa.berkeley.edu

###