Art Basel announces details of its 2017 Film program in Miami Beach

Art Basel announces details of its 2017 Film program in Miami Beach 1 For this year's screenings in SoundScape Park on the 7,000 square-foot outdoor projection wall of the New World Center, David Gryn has selected films that engage with the diverse and global language of dance, as well as the connection between movement and music. While in the past the Film program has featured works that touch on multiple topics, the concept for the 2017 edition will present a more focused line-up of films centered around a single theme.
From December 7 to December 9, 2017Art Basel will present a premier program of film and video works that focus on the universal language of dance and movement. Selected from the show’s participating galleries by David Gryn, Director of Daata Editions and Artprojx, this year’s program will present films by artists Jibade-Khalil Huffman, Jen DeNike and Tin Ojeda, as well as a series of short films drawn from the Chicago Film Archives collection. In addition, Marian Masone, New York-based film curator, has selected ‘Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat’ (2017), directed by Sara Driver, for a special screening. ArtBasel, whose Lead Partner is UBS, takes place from December 7 to December 10, 2017 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

For this year’s screenings in SoundScape Park on the 7,000 square-foot outdoor projection wall of the New World Center, David Gryn has selected films that engage with the diverse and global language of dance, as well as the connection between movement and music. While in the past the Film program has featured works that touch on multiple topics, the concept for the 2017 edition will present a more focused line-up of films centered around a single theme.

The Short Film program on Thursday, December 7 will feature recent works by Jibade-Khalil Huffman (b. 1981) and Jen DeNike (b. 1971), who both work across various media. Huffman’s works bring together spoken and written language, photography, vintage television and computer animation to pay homage to African-American popular culture. In her films, DeNike stages vignettes of urban and suburban life as lyrical, slow-motion masquerades of joy, pain, and transcendence by blending video, photography, sculpture and performance.

On Friday, December 8, ‘Free Jazz Vein’ (2017) by Tin Ojeda (b. 1982) builds on the artist’s ongoing fascination with the 1970s era, inspired by jazz album covers and movie posters from the period. Shot in the United States, Central America, Australia and Indonesia, the work focuses on experimental surfing while also offering a glimpse into the poverty that exists in the towns next to beautiful beaches. Super 16mm film, with its grainy texture, lens flares and painterly depth of field, lends the film a nostalgic feel, while off-screen dialog and statements connect it to the present moment.

Titled ‘The Reflection in the Puddle is Mine’, the Short Film program on Saturday, December 9 will present a selection of works from the Chicago Film Archives’ collection. Selected by David Gryn together with Michelle Puetz, Curator of Collections and Public Programs, Chicago Film Archives and Jim Dempsey, Co-Owner, Corbett vs. Dempsey, the films and videos featured in the program provide a rare and fascinating view of life in Chicago from the 1930s to the present. Exploring dance as an abstract form, the program takes its title from a 1961 film by dancer and choreographer Sybil Shearer (b. 1912, d. 2005) and filmmaker Helen Morrison (b. 1901, d. 1984), which documents Shearer’s dance company in a performance that escalates from the mundane world to the abstract and spiritual.

For her third year as Art Basel’s film curator, Marian Masone has selected ‘Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat’ (2017) for a special screening at the Colony Theatre on Friday, December 8. Directed by Sara Driver (b. 1955), the film documents the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat (b. 1960, d. 1988) from 1978 to 1981, when he was a homeless teenager in New York City. Featuring interviews with rappers, musicians and artists who knew Basquiat personally, ‘Boom for Real’ presents a comprehensive look into the seminal artist’s formative years and how downtown New York City inspired his practice.

Prior to the Film program each evening, ‘Trance’ (2017), a new immersive sound work by Swedish artist and music producer Hans Berg (b. 1978), will be presented on the state-of-the-art surround sound system in SoundScape Park. Based on his experiences composing both electronic dance music for clubs and atmospheric soundtracks for video artists, Berg continues to be fascinated by music’s potential to transport listeners into a trance-like state. ‘Trance’ is a hypnotic aural tapestry weaving together rainforest sounds, industrial noises, synthesizer rhythms and more.

For the full gallery list for Film, please visit artbasel.com/miami-beach/film.


GENERAL INFORMATION


Nightly: 8pm | December 7 to December 9, 2017
Art Basel’s Film sector screenings will take place in SoundScape Park on the 7,000-square-foot outdoor projection wall of the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center, a three-minute walk from the Miami Beach Convention Center. Admission to Film is free. Visitors are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs.Nightly: 7pm | Sound works in SoundScape Park
Hans BergTrance, 17’ (one hour loop), 2017, Gió Marconi, Lisson Gallery

Friday, December 8, 2017
8:30pm | Colony Theatre Special Film Screening
Sara DriverBoom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, 79’, 2017

The feature film selected by Art Basel film curator Marian Masone will be shown at the Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach. Screening is followed by a discussion with Sara Driver and Marian Masone. Entry is free, but seating is limited.


DETAILED FILM PROGRAM


Thursday, December 7, 2017 

8pm | Short Film program | Jibade-Khalil Huffman and Jen DeNike
Running time 72’, selected by David Gryn

Jibade-Khalil HuffmanGIF, 2013, Anat Ebgi
Jibade-Khalil HuffmanFirst Person Shooter, 2016, Anat Ebgi
Jibade-Khalil HuffmanFiguration (A), 2017, Anat Ebgi
Jen DeNikeThe Pimp, 2015, Anat Ebgi
Jen DeNikeThe Cat, 2015, Anat Ebgi
Jen DeNikeThe Boxer, 2015, Anat Ebgi

Friday, December 8, 2017

8pm | Tin Ojeda
Running time 45’, selected by David Gryn

Tin OjedaFree Jazz Vein, 2017, 303 Gallery

8:30pm | Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat
Special Film Screening at Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach
Running time 79’, selected by Marian Masone

Sara DriverBoom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, 2017

Saturday, December 9, 2017

8pm | Short Film program: The Reflection in the Puddle is Mine
Running time 70’, Corbett vs. Dempsey presents works from the Chicago Film Archives, selected by Jim Dempsey and Michelle Puetz together with David Gryn

Robert StieglerFull Circle, 1968
Samantha HillAn Anthology of Kinship, 2017
Morton & Millie GoldshollUnion Pier 1942: Film Experiments (excerpt), 1942
Ruth PageVariations on Euclid, 1938
Ruth PageUntitled Rehearsal, c., 1930
Larry JaniakDisintegration Line #2, 1970
Helen Morrison & Sybil ShearerWithout Wings the Way is Steep, 1961
Helen Morrison & Sybil ShearerThe Reflection in the Puddle is Mine, 1961
Latham ZearfossSomething to Move In, 2014

About the Curators

David Gryn
David Gryn is the director of Daata Editions, a new online platform commissioning artists video, sound, poetry and web artworks, and director of London’s Artprojx, screening, curating, promoting and lecturing on artists’ moving image and other art projects, working with leading contemporary artists, art galleries, museums, art fairs, art schools and charities worldwide.

Marian Masone
Marian Masone is a film curator, lecturer and writer based in New York. For over 25 years Masone worked at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, one of America’s pre-eminent film organization where she sat on the selection committees for ‘New Directors/New Films’, produced with the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and ‘The New York Film Festival’. Masone has been a guest lecturer and curator for leading institutions such as Parsons School of Design in New York and Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid. Her writings on film and media have appeared in leading newspapers and magazines.

About Art Basel
Founded in 1970 by gallerists from Basel, Art Basel today stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary art, sited in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition.

Art Basel’s engagement has expanded beyond art fairs through a number of new initiatives. In 2014, Art Basel launched its Crowdfunding Initiative, in collaboration with Kickstarter. This initiative presents jury-selected art projects to potential benefactors, which include Art Basel’s vibrant audience and the Kickstarter community. The initiative has catalyzed much-needed support for outstanding non-commercial art projects worldwide and so far has helped pledge over $2 million to creative projects around the world. For Art Basel Cities, launched in 2016, Art Basel is working with selected partner cities to develop vibrant and content-driven programs specific to the individual city. Connecting them to the global art world through Art Basel’s expertise and network, Art Basel Cities supports its partners to develop their unique cultural landscape. For further information, please visit artbasel.com.

Partners 
UBS, global Lead Partner of Art Basel, has supported the organization for more than 20 years. As Art Basel’s global network expanded, UBS increased its lead partnership to include all three shows. In addition, UBS has a long and substantial record of engagement in contemporary art: as a holder of one of the world’s most distinguished corporate art collections, as an active partner in global contemporary art projects such as the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global ArtInitiative, and as a source of information and insights through the UBS Arts Forum and the art news-focused app ‘Planet Art‘ app. In March 2017, UBS and Art Basel co-published the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report by Clare McAndrew. Find more details at ubs.com/art.

Art Basel’s Associate Partners, supporting all three shows, are MGM Resorts International – one of the world’s leading entertainment companies with a long-standing commitment to presenting and supporting art in public spaces; Audemars Piguet, whose expanding activities in contemporary art include the Audemars Piguet Art Commission; and NetJets – the world leader in private aviation. Art Basel is also supported globally by BMW, who has co-developed with Art Basel the BMW Art Journey, and Ruinart, Official Champagne Partner.

Art Basel’s show in Miami Beach is supported by Show Partner Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, the leading sales and marketing firm of luxury residential new development properties. Art Basel welcomes Yvel as new Lounge Host Partner, Marriott International as new Official Partner and BDDW as the Official Partner of the Collectors Lounge’s furniture and interiors. Kannoa is the Art Basel in Miami Beach Official outdoor Furniture Partner and the Official Hotel Partners are Nautilus, a Sixty Hotel, The Betsy South Beach and W South Beach. Art Basel’s global Media Partner is The Financial Times. For further information about partnerships, please visit artbasel.com/partners.

Public days:
Thursday, December 7, 2017, 3pm to 8pm
Friday, December 8, 2017, 12noon to 8pm
Saturday, December 9, 2017, 12noon to 8pm
Sunday, December 10, 2017, 12noon to 6pm

Upcoming Art Basel shows
Miami Beach, December 7-10, 2017
Hong Kong, March 29-31, 2018
Basel, June 14-17, 2018

For the latest updates on Art Basel, visit artbasel.com, find us on Facebook at facebook.com/artbasel or follow @artbasel on InstagramGoogle+, TwitterWeibo and Wechat.