Perhaps you, like us, were reared in a home in which touching the thermostat was a crime punishable by death. If so, chances are you sought refuge during the long, hot summer months in generously air-conditioned movie theaters.
Now that you’re an adult living in a $3-a-gallon world, you have come to appreciate your parents’ thermostat policy. No need to see Spider-Man 3 for the eighth time, though. Instead, get dressed up in your coolest threads every Friday night this month and head to Conduit Gallery’s Art Video Series.
Arrive early and mingle; marvel at the modern art; or simply find a vent and chill out with cocktails. Come 8 pm, settle in for a film (or three). The beauty of this event (aside from the free A/C) is that you’ll never see the same movie twice—selections vary from week to week.
Curators Danette Dufilho and Carolyn Sortor had their choice of material, culled from selections submitted throughout the past 20 years of the Dallas Video Festival. Some selections last a minute or two; others play for more than an hour. All of the content is drawn from the art video division of the festival. It’s a rich collection.
“The Dallas Video Festival is one of the oldest, biggest festivals [of its kind] in the region, possibly the hemisphere,” Sortor says.
She, along with Dufilho, have gone through a number of films to choose the right mix for the hour-and-a-half program.
Sortor says that not only have they found that mix, they have also been good at identifying future stars, people whose work has gone on to acclaim. “Through the years,” she says, “we’ve featured artists who have gone on to become quite famous. People like Cindy Sherman and Bill Viola.”
Don’t know who those artists are? Don’t let that stop you from engaging in a conversation about foreshadowing, themes, context, cinematography, or any other subject you know nothing about. In fact, give a long-winded, if uninformed, opinion-filled soliloquy. Everyone knows it’s so much lovelier being full of hot air in a cool setting. Jul 6, 13, 20 & 27, 7:30 pm. Conduit Gallery, 1626 C Hi Line Dr. 214-939-0064. www.conduitgallery.com.
