Awakening from the 20th Century  This turn of the Century video essay by Chip Lord features interviews with writers Ellen Ullman and Rebecca Solnit along with Homer Flynn of The Residents and video artist John Sanborn.

At a time when things seemed to be going “virtual” in San Francisco, Lord asked his subjects “Will the computer replace the automobile?” and are we witnessing the “end of the City?”.

25 years later these questions seem relevant to the post-pandemic place where we live. Visual sequences traverse San Francisco using human powered transport to present an image of city space that is transformative, celebratory, and above all else, public!  At 35 minutes this is the featured work,but it will be preceded by Honolulu Underwater, 2019, with music by Pollo Del Mar, and then the program ends with Building the Beach, 2017.  Rising sea level is the context for both of these more recent HD video works

Parts of Awakening were shot near the Clarion - in the Stockton Tunnel.

Building the Beach trailer HERE

CHIP LORD is an artist who works with video and photography. As a member of Ant Farm [1968-1978] he produced the video art classics Media Burn  and The Eternal Frame and the Cadillac  Ranch public sculpture in Amarillo, Texas.  He works independently and in collaboration producing video installations, films and other projects. His work straddles documentary and experimental genres, and has been shown widely at film and video festivals and in Museums. A 2005 retrospective of his video work was shown at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arts Reina Sofia, Madrid.  His project Movie Map, which includes photographs of San Francisco neighborhood theaters and video was shown at the Rena Bransten Gallery, 2003 and in the exhibition, AUTO, SUEÑO Y MATERIA in Gijon and Madrid, Spain, 2009. He executed a temporary public Art commission for the City of San Jose, Hello, San Jose, in 2008 (with Bruce Tomb).  In 2010 he completed a public video art piece for the Bradley Terminal at LAX Airport titled To & From LAX. ChipLord.net

A post-discussion will be moderated by Jeff M. Giordano.

$6 all-day parking at St. Mary’s Square Garage