Screening
Beyond the Light Show: The Films of Jerry Abrams
On Monday, December 18th, at 6:30pm, join us at the FMC Screening Room (475 Park Avenue South, 6th Floor) for four tantalizing 16mm films by psychedelic visual artist Jerry Abrams, curated by Robert Schneider and FMC Executive Director, Dr. Tom Day!
A consequential but relatively obscure figure from the 1960s Bay Area Underground, Jerry Abrams emerged on the Haight-Ashbury scene as one of the architects and principal directors of Head Lights (later HeadLights), a multimedia liquid light show that provided visuals for some of the most iconic rock concerts of the late 1960s. Taking inspiration from Tony Martin (the projectionist and light auteur of Ken Keesey’s Acid Tests), Abrams collaborated with Glen McKay and Marilyn Ashman to design iconic psychedelic visuals for the Monterey Pop Festival and acts such as The Grateful Dead, The Doors and Jefferson Airplane. During this period, Abrams also shot several films which remain well-preserved in the Film-Makers’ Coop’s collection and explore, document, and channel the '60s novel counterculture as it came into being.
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PROGRAM:
- Be-In (1967, 16mm, color, sound, 7 minutes)
- Lotus Wing (1967, 16mm, color and B&W, sound, 16.5 minutes)
- Eyetoon (1968, 16mm, color, sound, 8 minutes)
- Mainstream (1968, 16mm, color, sound, 6.5 minutes)
Total Run Time: 38 minutes.