AURORA PICTURE SHOW AND MFA-H PRESENT SUFJAN STEVEN'S BQE
An orchestral homage to the architecture of the NYC boroughs and the imposing Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Sufjan Stevens and Reuben Kleiner filmed The BQE on do-it-yourself 16mm film cameras. With animated footage of gridlock and the perpetual motion of choreography, the Koyaanisqatsi-style production utilizes time-lapse photography, in-camera editing, slow motion, and post-production mirror effects to transform the urban blight of traffic into a splendor of graphic compositions.
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter considered a part of the folk revival in indie-pop. Stevens has garnered much interest from the press for his "Fifty States Project", the purpose of which to complete an album about each of the states of the United States. The BQE, commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, was originally a live show with his band, a backing orchestra, three screens and hula-hoopers.
The short film 0 by Korean artist, Seoungho Cho, will be shown prior to The BQE. In 0, Seoungho Cho literally counts cars speeding down a freeway. The interwoven and digitally rendered content - cars, the sounds they produce, numbers superimposed upon them - creates a dynamic investigation of the mechanics of the moving image. 0 combines the excitement of a motor-sport video game with the rigor of video art image-processing to produce a vigorous insight into the way images move.
Special thanks to Microcinema International for their support of this screening.
Microcinema International is the theatrical distributor of The BQE. To book a screening, a theatrical run, or request a screener, contact info@microcinema.com.
Ticket Info:
Admission to the screening of The BQE is $7 for non-members and free for Aurora Picture Show members and MFAH Film Buffs. Advanced tickets can be purchased at www.mfah.org/film. For Aurora member reservations and more information, please visit www.aurorapictureshow.org or call 713-868-2101.
Aurora Picture Show is funded by its stellar membership, Houston Endowment, Inc, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Brown Foundation, Texas Commission on the Arts, The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the Nightingale Code Foundation, the Oshman Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts. Aurora Picture Show is a proud member of Fresh Arts Coalition www.fresharts.org.
When and Where: 7 p.m. Friday, January 8
Screening of The BQE
Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet
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