BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//http://www2.movingimage.us//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.10.23// X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20260409T123540CEST-39206Iw9lk@http://www2.movingimage.us DTSTAMP:20260409T103540Z DESCRIPTION:\n With physicist Elsa Garmire\, filmmaker Joshua White\, and c ollector AJ Epstein in conversation\, with special laser and liquid light demonstrations. \n\n\n Science on Screen presents a rare showcase of films connected to the origins of the popular laser light show that began at th e Griffith Observatory in 1973. Spanning 1921 to 2015\, this program prese nts visuals made with paint\, kinetic sculpture\, animation\, and lasers. The film screening will be followed by a conversation between physicist an d co-founder of Laser Images Inc. Elsa Garmire\, founder of the Joshua Lig ht Show Joshua White\, and producer and Lumia collector AJ Epstein. It wil l include live demonstrations of laser and liquid light techniques. \n\n\n Walter Ruttmann\, Opus I\, 1921\, 11 mins\, 35mm \n \n Thomas Wilfred’s C lavilux Jr. Unit #86\, 1930\, \;filmed by AJ Epstein\, 7 mins\, digita l projection \n \n Ivan Dryer and Elsa Garmire\, Laserimage\, 1972\, 10 mi ns\, restored 16mm print \n \n Jordan Belson with Stephen Beck\, Cycles\, 1974\, 10 mins\, digital projection \n \n Jordan Belson\, Apollo\, 1982\, 10 mins\, digital projection \n \n Joshua White\, selected concert project ions created for “Bill Graham and the Rock &\; Roll Revolution” at the Skirball Center\, 2015\, 12 mins\, digital projection \n\n\n The origins o f the popular laser light show began not with Jimi Hendrix and psychedelic s\, but with a physicist named Elsa Garmire and the symphonic musical work “Fanfare to the Common Man.” Garmire was interested in the aesthetics of laser light\, which has a property called “coherence”—in effect a sparkle\ , because of the way that the particles of light are stimulated. She had s tudied with Nobel Prize-winning physicist Charles Townes\, inventor of the laser (“Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation”)\, and a pplied her expertise in optics to laser light\, developing a technique to create unique forms. Although Garmire eventually shifted her focus back to science—having an incredibly successful career in the field of optics—her laser images inspired a young filmmaker named Ivan Dryer. Dryer registere d them on celluloid and presented them to the Griffith Observatory and Pla netarium in Los Angeles. This original\, proof-of-concept video\, Laserima ge (1972)\, spawned LASERIUM (“House of Laser”). LASERIUM became the longe st-running theatrical attraction in Los Angeles. East Coast light shows th at developed around the same time include the Joshua Light Show\, which us ed not lasers but mechanical cinema techniques with colored oil and water dyes. \n\n\n The creation of LASERIUM synthesized scientific experimentati on with artistic practice. Elsa Garmire was actively involved in the West- coast branch of the legendary organization Experiments in Art and Technolo gy\, and even visited with avant-garde cinema pioneer and painter Jordan B elson—all while completing her post-doctoral scientific work. Belson’s Vor tex series at San Francisco’s Morrison Planetarium in the 1950s staged mul tiple projectors and dozens of speakers for multi-directional sound to cre ate a spectacle that was the first abstract visual performance to bring au diences into a planetarium—a precursor to LASERIUM. Belson collaborated wi th Experiments in Art and Technology video artist and engineer Stephen Bec k\, who invented one of the first video synthesizers in 1969 (the Direct V ideo Synthesizer) that they used to create visuals for the 1974 film Cycle s. \n\n\n Jordan Belson and Elsa Garmire shared an appreciation for the ha llucinatory light forms called Lumia that were created by Danish light art pioneer Thomas Wilfred beginning in 1921. Wilfred deemed light a new arti stic medium. He built kinetic sculptures called Clavilux that manipulated light and color at variable tempos\, sometimes giving viewers a remote con trol\, and generated transcendent\, floating forms\; Wilfred said that he wanted to evoke the experience of looking out of the window of a spaceship \, watching the universe flow by. He corresponded with astronomer Eugene E pstein for the last eight years of his life. Because Wilfred built just ov er three dozen Lumia works in his lifetime and each one has to be experien ced in person\, he is not as widely known as his influence might suggest\; Jordan Belson\, Joshua White\, as well as artists such as James Turrell a nd Terrence Malick cite Wilfred. \n\n\n The abstract\, light-based\, predo minantly manually operated cinematic experiences which made art from light departed the rectangular screen to invite viewers to see space anew. They brought people into alternative\, even scientific spaces\; because of LAS ERIUM\, planetariums appealed to mass audiences. \n\n\n Tickets: $15 (Free for members at the Film Lover level and MoMI Kids Premium levels and abov e). Order tickets online. (Members may contact members@movingimage.us  \;with questions regarding online reservations.) \n \n \n Ticket purchase includes same-day admission to the Museum (see gallery hours). View the Mu seum’s ticketing policy here. For more information on membership and to jo in online\, visit our membership page. \n \n \n \n Special thanks to Raymo nd Foye\, Cathy Heinrich\, Kathleen Maguire\, Joshua White\, Stephen Beck\ , AJ Epstein\, and Eugene Epstein. This program coincides with an exhibiti on of Jordan Belson’s paintings at Matthew Marks Gallery. \n \n \n \n Abou t the speakers: \n \n Elsa Garmire is the Sydney E. Junkins Professor of E ngineering Emerita and former Thayer School of Engineering dean at Dartmou th College. She is the former President of The Optical Society. Dr. Garmir e received an A.B. at Harvard and Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Tech nology (MIT)\, both in physics. After post-doctoral work at Caltech\, she spent 20 years at the University of Southern California\, where she was na med William Hogue Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the Center for Laser Studies\, and then went to Dartmouth in 1995. In her tech nical field of quantum electronics\, lasers\, and optics\, she has authore d over 250 journal papers\, obtained nine patents\, and been on the editor ial board of five technical journals. She has supervised 30 PhD and 14 M.S . theses. Dr. Garmire has held leadership positions in the National Academ y of Engineering\, the Society of Women Engineers\, the Institute of Elect rical and Electronic Engineers\, the American Physical Society\, and the O ptical Society of America\, and served as a representative to the Internat ional Commission for Optics. Dr. Garmire received the Society of Women Eng ineers Achievement Award\, has been a Fulbright Scholar\, and is an honora ry member of Phi Beta Kappa. \n\n\n Joshua White \;is founder of the J oshua Light Show\, a group of artists improvising with projections in live concert venues. The Joshua Light Show were resident artists at Fillmore E ast from 1968 to ’71 and performed behind major musical artists such as Fr ank Zappa\, Janis Joplin\, and Jimi Hendrix. White has also had a prolific career in television. He directed a range of television shows including S einfeld\, Club MTV\, Inside the Actors Studio\, and Max Headroom. He recei ved an Emmy nomination for an ABC special on Cat Stevens. In addition\, Wh ite has continued to work with artists\, directing Laurie Anderson’s video to “O Superman\,” and staging the first rock concert at Radio City Music Hall. \;Over the last 15 years he has collaborated with the artist Gar y Panter with whom he also regenerated Joshua Light Show. The light show i s still performing. \n \n\n\n AJ Epstein is an artist and producer working in the medium of light\, photography\, film\, and live theatrical perform ance. He is the Artistic Director of West of Lenin in Seattle\, and has be en producing plays and films in Seattle for over two decades. Epstein runs Clavilux.org\, a foundation dedicated to the rescue and preservation of T homas Wilfred’s Lumia and Clavilux works. Epstein is a mechanical expert i n the workings of the Clavilux\, and has restored numerous works by Thomas Wilfred. He id on the board of the Northwest Film Forum. \n DTSTART:20190531T200000 DTEND:20190531T220000 LOCATION:Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater SUMMARY:Circle to Sphere: Origins of the Laser Light Show END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR