Cinema St. Louis and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts invite St. Louis-area filmmakers to project their imaginations on the Pulitzer building by creating short silent films that employ light as a key element. In conjunction with the current exhibit "Dan Flavin: Constructed Light," which runs until October 4, the Pulitzer will hold an event that features locally created, light-related short films. These "light works" will be digitally projected on several exterior surfaces at the Pulitzer Foundation on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 7:30pm. Cinema St. Louis will then choose one of the films to screen as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, held from July 19-24, 2008.
The focus of this exhibition is the experience of Dan Flavin's work - sculptural installations composed of mass-produced light fixtures and fluorescent tubes - within the architecture and shifting natural light of the Pulitzer building. The exhibition is curated by Tiffany Bell, who was project director of the Dan Flavin catalogue raisonn� and currently serves as curator and archivist for the Flavin Studio. The installation will be realized with the oversight and assistance of Stephen Morse, Exhibition Coordinator and Conservator of the Flavin Studio. Flavin's art work extends beyond the physical hardware to encompass the surrounding space it illuminates. As a result, his art is inseparable from the architecture in which it is presented. From works that cast light into the dark corners of a room, to corridor pieces that emphasize transitional spaces, to barriers that block sections of a gallery, visitors are forced to reconsider how they move through the building.
St. Louis-area filmmakers interested in participating must create SILENT shorts that meet the following three criteria:
- Incorporate light as an important aspect of the work.
- Run a maximum of 5 minutes (no minimum running time).
- Exclude ALL sound, including music, effects and dialogue.
Experimental, narrative, animated, and documentary approaches are all acceptable. The shorts can be shot in any film or video format, in either color or black-and-white. Filmmakers must live within a 120-mile radius of St. Louis. All films must be submitted on DVD.
Click (here) for an entry form.
DVD and entry form should be sent to: Cinema St. Louis, Attention: Water Works, Centene Center for Arts & Education, 3547 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63103-1014. There is no entry fee. Deadline is May 15, 2008. Submission of a short does not guarantee its use at the Pulitzer event. To view the Pulitzer building, visit the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts Web site at www.pulitzerarts.org. For more information, call Cinema St. Louis at 314-289-4150.