In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Exploratorium’s
Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program the museum presents an investigation
of the work of Bob Miller (1935-2007), a self-titled “natural
philosopher” and author of many of the museum's most iconic exhibits
about light, color, and shadow.
Drawn from Exploratorium archives and first-person accounts of Miller's life and work,
Light Walk will include papers, letters, photographs, and objects, as well as public programs such as performances and film experiences.
The Exhibit will be available for viewing from
Saturday, 10/25/14 - Thursday, 2/05/15 on the 4th floor of the San
Francisco Public Library in the Art, Music and Recreation Center.
The Exhibit opening will be celebrated with a very special film program
Radiant Cinema: Reflections on Light and Shadow. The film program shows on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 from 6:30-7:30 and will be preceded by an opening reception.
Bob Miller was a natural philosopher and poet of light. His unlimited
imagination, playful insights, and questioning nature combined in
powerful ways to influence the way those around him saw the world.
His investigations into light and shadow acted as a physical and
philosophical matrix on which to muse and discover, both at the
Exploratorium and far beyond the museum walls.
Miller's wondrous methods of inquiry are the inspiration for Radiant
Cinema, a program that incorporates light not only as a medium, but as a
tool to weave abstractions and coherence. Some films take direct
inspiration from Miller while others simply embody the type of radiance
and mystery he saw in everyday reflections. The cinematic environment
gives us the chance to consider the light coming from the projector as a
wonder in itself; a portal to discovery.
Films that will be shown include:
Looking at the Light (2014, 3 min, video, color, sound) by
David Barker. This work-in-progress captures the light artist Bob
Miller at home philosophizing and at play toward the later part of his
life.
Lightwalk (1993, 3 min, 16mm, B&W, sound) by Michael Walsh.
Lightwalk
is a cinematic ode to Bob Miller shot one summer afternoon at the
Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and the Marin Headlands. "Amazing
effects stream past our retinas while we are busily distracted by our
lives. Using in-camera effects, this film attempts to capture everyday
images we might overlook." —Michael Walsh
Stately Mansions Did Decree (1999, 6 min, 16mm, color, silent) by Stan Brakhage. Stan Brakhage’s spectacular hand-painted
Stately Mansions Did Decree fills the screen with flickering shards of red and orange that present a universe ablaze with energy.
Glistening Thrills (2013, 8m, 16mm, color, sound) by Jodie
Mack. A shiny otherworld of holographic reverie pairs dollar store
gift-bags and a haunting vibraphone soundtrack to create an effervescent
melancholy in three parts. Featuring compositions by Elliot Cole.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/arts/cinema-arts
Selected Bibliography compiled by San Francisco Public Library librarians:
Park,
David
Call
Number: 535 P219f 1999
Zajonc,
Arthur
Call Number: 535.02 Z13c
Johnston,
Sean F.
Call
Number: Ref 535.22 J647h (in library use only)
Gross,
Michael
Call
Number: 571.455 G9143L
Johnsen,
Sonke
Eckstut,
Joann and Eckstut, Arielle
Call
Number: 535.6 Ec59s
Edited
by William Duckworth and Richard Fleming.
Call
Number: 780.973 So841
Donna
M. Stein..
Call
Number: 709.04 W648s
Hilde
Hein ; foreword by Philip Morrison.
Call
Number: 069.95 H364e
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