The screening will include Albuquerque’s films 20/20: Accelerando and Liquid Light, as well as an exclusive preview of her third film currently in development. Tracing the relationship between humanity and the cosmos, Albuquerque’s film trilogy follows the journey of a 25th-century female astronaut on a mission to spread interstellar consciousness. Crash-landing onto Earth, she forgets her mission, prompting her to embark on a journey of remembrance and self-discovery: “Where was I? And why was I awakening at this moment, on this planet?”
Albuquerque’s films have been presented previously with institutional support from the USC Fisher Museum of Art and bardoLA at the 59th La Biennale di Venezia, Biennale Arte 2022. In her prior film installations, Albuquerque has incorporated materials which derive from the film’s imagery and content, such as gold and salt - both material manifestations of light. For Albuquerque, the films are an extension of her earthworks and performance works. They are shot on location at the volcanoes of Hawaii, the Salt Flats of Bolivia, and the Pyramids of Giza.
Following the screening, Albuquerque will be joined by collaborators Nicole McDonald, David McFarland, and Jasmine Albuquerque for a discussion on their collective approach in the making of Albuquerque’s films.
Speakers
Lita Albuquerque was raised in Tunisia, France, Switzerland, and the United States. Since her first solo exhibition in 1974, she has created site-specific performances, sculpture, drawings, prints, paintings, films, and poetry in locations across the globe. In 1978, she began using powdered pigment to make ephemeral works outdoors, such as Malibu Line and Moon Shadow (both 1978), and Man and the Mountain II (1979). She went on to develop this practice for further installations (Rock and Pigment, 1978; Materia Prima, 1979; The Horizon Is the Place That Maintains Memory, 1981) and outdoor interventions at the Washington Monument (Washington Monument Project: The Red Pyramid, 1980), the Great Pyramids at Giza (Sol Star, 1996), and the North and South Poles (Stellar Axis, 2006–8). Examples of her public art can be found at Los Angeles City Hall, Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in downtown L.A., the State Capitol Mall in Sacramento, and elsewhere. She has taught at Cal State L.A., Otis Parsons School of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, and ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. The recipient of several NEA grants and other honors, Albuquerque was named a Distinguished Woman in the Arts by the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles in 2013.
Jasmine Albuquerque is a choreographer, dancer and teacher based in Los Angeles. She is co-founder of WIFE and has performed with companies such as Hysterica, Blue13 Bollywood Collage Dance Theater, and Ryan Heffington's Fingered. Other performances include Soft Sex, Istanbul Light Festival, TEDx SoCal, KTCHN, We Are The World, Frequency Festival, Jane's Addiction, and Hecuba at venues including the Hammer Museum, Zebulon, the El Rey, the Wiltern, MOCA, The Ford, The Orpheum, and LACMA. Jasmine has choreographed music videos for St. Vincent, Devendra Banhart, Ry X, and Monica Dogra and danced in videos for Beck, Laura Marling, Rodrigo Amarante, Lawrence Rothman, Verve Records, Fitz & The Tantrums, MIKA, and Morcheeba. She has a degree in History from UCLA and trained in contemporary dance at The Edge Performing Arts Center and in Budapest, Hungary. She has been teaching dance in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and is currently working on a new piece for the Walker Museum, 2019.
Artist Nicole McDonald leads a multi-disciplinary studio investigating how storytelling thrives from audience participation. In parallel to her work in games, film, advertising, and the art world she writes and directs her own independent interactive films that push the boundaries in the digital interactive space. Her innovative work has premiered at the 59th La Biennale di Venezia, Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and the Future of Storytelling. In 2019 she was the first ever Artist in Residence at Disney’s StudioLAB, in 2021 she became a fellow at New Inc ONX Studio, and in 2023 she was invited to the prestigious Immersive Lab at La Biennale Cinema di Venezia. She has pioneered conversation around developing interactive stories, the role of AI in the animation pipeline, and how to develop connective emotional stories that are impactful, in a time where we need it most: at Google Sandbox, SXSW, Off Festival, Digital Design Days, and Engadget Alternate Realities. For the last five years, Nicole has been developing interactive films in VR, AR, and XR that examine interactive character development, emotional responsiveness, and examining ways to create a bond between character and our audience. Her passion is to create interactive films that are accessible to the mass audience- believing that the magic of interactive is for all.
David McFarland, Director of Photography, Liquid Light. David McFarland is a celebrated cinematographer whose work has been featured at
international film festivals; including Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, Venice, Toronto, Locarno and AFI. Born and raised in Texas, McFarland began exploring photography, art, and music at an early age. He is a graduate of Boston University where he studied cinematography and
anthropology. In early 2023 McFarland lensed the forthcoming Netflix Series - Testament in the rugged landscapes of Morocco. More recently, he filmed the WWII period drama Vindicata alongside Croatian writer/director Dominik Sedlar. In 2019 McFarland lensed 12 Mighty Orphans, directed by Ty Roberts. The film follows a troubled high school football coach who leads his team of orphans to the State Championship, inspiring a nation during the Great Depression along the way. This film was selected for the prestigious Camerimage Film Festival in Poland and had a wide release by Sony Picture Classics. McFarland’s interests in anthropology and urban cultures have played an important role in his body of work. In 2009 he shot the anti Taliban film The Black Tulip for Afghan director Sonia Nassery Cole on the war torn streets of Kabul. He also explored the world of Tibetans’ living in exile when he photographed The Sweet Requiem, directed by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam. This Tibetan language film follows the arduous journey of a young girl named Dollar, first through the perilous and freezing Himalayan passes, and then as she navigates her new life in India’s sweltering and overcrowded capital. It had it’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018 and was a part of the Human Rights Watch film festival 2018. McFarland also worked as the cinematographer on Palestinian director Bassam Jarbawi's debut feature film Mafak, which tackles both the physical and emotional toll of one man’s homecoming following 15 years in an Israeli jail. Filmed entirely in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Mafak premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2018 and Toronto 2018 and went on to win numerous awards in festivals around the world. It too was part of the 2018 Human Rights Watch Film Festival. Aside from feature films, McFarland regularly shoots commercials for clients such as: Esteé Lauder, Dior, Maybelline, Adidas, Stella Artois, Kawasaki, Samsung, Dodge, Cadillac and Delta Airlines. His work can also be seen in several music videos, which include: Lawrence Rotherman’s Jordan; Jessica Tonder’s My Body is My Home; Odessa’s I Will Be There; Cameron Avery’s Dance With Me; and Foy Vance’s She Burns - with Lucy Hale. Based in Los Angeles and New York, David McFarland is a member of the International Cinematographer’s Guild and is represented by DDA.
Moderator
Jana La Brasca is a curatorial researcher at the Nasher Sculpture Center and a doctoral candidate in art history at the University of Texas at Austin. Her dissertation, an extended case study of Alice Aycock’s early work, draws on the artist’s studio archive and leverages a theoretical framework focused on matters of scale. She co-organized Without Limits: Helen Frankenthaler, Abstraction, and the Language of Print and contributed to After Michelangelo, Past Picasso: Leo Steinberg’s Library of Prints at the Blanton Museum of Art. Previously, she was the catalogue raisonné research fellow at Judd Foundation in Marfa, Texas, and New York.
Related Events
Saturday, January 6 / 5 p.m.
Michelle Stuart: Voyager at The Texas Theatre
Tickets available through The Texas Theatre
Director Karen Bellone and cinematographer Jim Hershleder will join us for a presentation of an in-process cut of the forthcoming feature-length documentary Michelle Stuart: Voyager. Reflecting the artist’s longstanding interests in nature, perception, memory, and our place in the cosmos, the film weaves a path through Stuart’s life and art.
Sunday, January 7 / 12 - 3 p.m.
Groundswell Final Day Events at Nasher Sculpture Center
Join us on the final day of Groundswell: Women of Land Art as we celebrate the close of the exhibition. Meet exhibition artist Lita Albuquerque at a catalogue signing and participate in a guided meditation led by the artist.
Groundswell: Women of Land Art is made possible by leading support from the Texas Commission on the Arts, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Henry Luce Foundation, The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation, and the Jean Baptiste "Tad" Adoue, III Fund of The Dallas Foundation. Generous support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. Additional support is provided by Joanne Bober, Humanities Texas, Ann and Chris Mahowald, Leigh Rinearson, the Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District (DTPID), and Susan Inglett.