Tuesday, August 19, 2014 at 7:30pm
George Kuchar's Secrets of the Shadow World
155 Freeman Street, Brooklyn
Presented with Primary Information
Secrets of the Shadow World, George Kuchar, 1998-99, video, 135 mins
“Kuchar’s magnum opus” - Amy Taubin
"With a new millennium almost upon us, images of space aliens invading the marketplace and sleeping habits of consumers worldwide, this miniseries abducts the viewers into the universe of John A. Keel (via a video time-warp supplied by me with Rockefeller Foundation funding). It's a leisurely expedition through a maze of kitchens and cerebral convolutions in search of the mysteries behind the mundane (or vice versa!). Mr. Keel, an author and stage magician, has made a profound impact on the pop-culture we swim in. His research and books on the UFO enigma have ignited an explosive wild-fire of imaginative invocations such as the X-Files TV show and the Men in Black blockbuster movie. Yet you never hear about him and he never hears from the movie and television companies. In this video you see and hear him. You also see and hear a whole lot of other people and some animals. The whole show runs almost 2 hours and 20 minutes, but be sure to stay for part 3 as the UFO/Horror author, Whitley Strieber, teams up with my old star Donna Kerness to reveal exclusive revelations on the 'visitor' experience. See this video... then read their books — and pray it's not true!" - GK
In conjunction with the publication of The George Kuchar Reader, edited by Andrew Lampert, Light Industry hosts a screening of Kuchar’s tripartite Fortean epic Secrets of the Shadow World. The culmination of the artist's life-long fascination with paranormal phenomena, Secrets features spooky tales of the chupacabra, Sasquatch, flying saucers, and the death of film via a maelstrom of wipes, swirls, chromakey, and other instruments of lo-fi videographic excess, all set to an anachronistic soundtrack of syrupy mood music. And though the work’s ostensible subject is extraterrestrial, its true focus is on the ultra-ordinary, the banal interactions which Kuchar renders with incredible tenderness and wit—his ersatz stars shine brightest while eating a sandwich. Indeed, Keel offers a remark at one point about his own work that doubles as an apposite description of Kuchar’s project: “The book is not about people from outer space. It’s about people right here on earth.”
Tickets - $7, available at door.
Please note: seating is limited. First-come, first-served. Box office opens at 7pm.