The Chicago premiere of the International Media Mixer on July 17 was beyond our wildest imagination!
We couldn’t have imagined a better setting for the live performance of these stunning four works than the Jay Pritzker Pavillion. The evening was cool and clear with the lake just to the east and the glowing skyline of the city to the west. Archival images from CFA and Lab 80-Cinescatti in Italy were transformed by artists Giuseppe Boccassini, Lori Felker, Federico Francioni & Yan Cheng, and Domietta Torlasco and their sonic collaborators Alex Inglizian, Patrizia Oliva, Tomeka Reid, and Stefano Urkuma De Santis into new pieces – each of them magical, challenging, hypnotic, and deeply moving.
The project not only brought together artists working in different parts of the world to create these beautiful new films, it also drew out connections between our contemporary experience and the images that represent our history and our humanity. We already miss our Italian collaborators and friends (curator Karianne Fiorini, musicians Patrizia Oliva and Stefano Urkuma De Santis, and Gianmarco Torri) and are so thankful for the time they were able to spend with us in Chicago.
Thank you to everyone who came to the screening and to those of you who were there with us in spirit!
Our fantastic host and longtime supporter Alison Cuddy.
Alison Cuddy and musician Stefano Urkuma De Santis.
Stefano Urkuma De Santis performing with Parallax Dash (Domietta Torlasco & Stefano Urkuma De Santis).
Alex Inglizian performing with Temple of Truth (Giuseppe Boccassini & Alex Inglizian).
Musicians Tomeka Reid, Nick Mazzarella, and Patrizia Oliva performing with Octavia (Federico Francioni, Yan Cheng, Tomeka Reid).
Filmmaker Lori Felker and musician Patrizia Oliva discuss their transcontinental collaboration.
Patrizia Oliva performing Memoria Data (Lori Felker and Patrizia Oliva).
DJ (and former Media Mixer artist) Latham Zearfoss ended the screening with some killer sounds set to looping images from CFA’s collections.
