The Sounds of Silence

2/1/13 to 2/28/13

The film component of the exhibition Silence, the Sounds of Silence comprises experimental films, two feature films, and a documentary that explore silence as either subject or medium. Ingmar Bergman's masterful The Silence describes the terrible quiet left behind by God's absence; Pat Collins's windswept Silence follows an audio recordist as he reconnects with the source of sound; and Philip Gröning's reverential Into Great Silence closely portrays the muted days of an alpine monastery. Two programs of experimental films amplify the theme, tracing the use of silence and hushed sound from the 1940s to the present.

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Past Events

Past Films

  • A Kind of Hush: Experimental Works

    • Wednesday, August 5

    Barry Spinello in person. Experimental filmmakers engage silence in a variety of ways in this collection of shorts. Includes Maya Deren's Meshes of the Afternoon, Stan Brakhage's The Riddle of the Lumen, Nathaniel Dorsky's Threnody, Nam June Paik's Zen for Film, Steve Roden's four words for four hands, and Barry Spinello's Soundtrack. (85 mins)

  • Sourcing Sound: Experimental Works

    • Thursday, February 28 7 pm

    Rudy Lemcke and Darrin Martin in person. Experimental media typically seeks to undermine the logic between a sound and its source, but this program pursues a different path, where sound and image are unified by the medium. Includes work by Warner Jepson, Robert Russett, Scott Wolniak, Van McElwee, Stephen Vitiello, Darrin Martin, and Rudy Lemcke. (77 mins)

  • Into Great Silence

    • Sunday, February 17 2 pm

    Philip Gröning (Germany, 2005). Introduced by Gaetano Kazuo Maida. German director Gröning spent months among the monks of a monastery in the French Alps, sharing and observing their silence, attuning himself (and us) to the stillness of their devotion. The daily rituals-the prayers and meals, the walks and labors-establish a quiet and reverential rhythm. (164 mins)

  • The Silence

    • Friday, February 15 9 pm

    Ingmar Bergman (Sweden, 1963). Introduced by Linda Haverty Rugg. Two sisters traveling through an unspecified land on the verge of war take refuge in a disused hotel in Bergman's almost incestuous look at illness, desire, and attachment. Here, God has left the building and all that remains is a spiritual hush. (96 mins)

  • Silence

    • Friday, February 1 7 pm

    Pat Collins (Ireland, 2012). West Coast Premiere! Introduced by Bernie Krause. An Irish sound recordist returns to the landscape of his childhood in search of a pristine sonic setting in this brooding stew of stunning tableaux and documentary-like encounters with the people of the rugged North. (84 mins)