COMING SOON Saturday, February 13th, 8 pm, $7-10 COLLABOTRONICA: (CHICAGO) New work by Torsten Zenas Burns and friends Torsten Zenas Burns works with lots of different mediums and with lots of different people. COLLABTRONICA is a sample of different projects created in tandem with artists, Anne McGuirre, Darrin Martin, Christian K. Burns, and Halfliffers. Traversing through the worlds of Choregraphy, Performance, Video, and New Media, he explores the realms of performed identity through fantasy characters and has an interest in re-envisioning educational spaces. Often creating animated counterparts of his collaborators, TZB creates spaces where kinesthetics meets virtual life. For example, WHAT IF?, made with longtime collborator, Darrin Martin utilizes dance software that recreates choreography by Merce Cunningham. Weird and playful, TZB's works feel a bit like a good recess. The pleasure of movement and imaginative improv win the day. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Saturday, February 20th, 8 pm, $5 NEW NEW NEW New Film & Video Work from SAIC An evening of new film and video work from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's EDITING AESTHETICS cousre taught by Michelle Peutz. Featuring brand-spanking-new films and videos from Theodore Darst, Nick Edelberg, Samuel Jacob Eisen, Carlos Enriquez, James Ferguson, Danny Gallegos, Emily Irvine, David Lee, Karina Natis, Matthew O'Shaughnessy, David Olson, Hae Yeon Park, Anthony Rizzo, and Heather Shilling. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Sunday, February 21st, 7 pm, $7-10 THE FILMS OF STUART SHERMAN Presented by Hopscotch Cinema With Skype'd intro from John Matturri Renowned performance artist, conceptual artist, and filmmaker of extraordinary talents, Stuart Sherman was beloved in the downtown New York arts scene until his death in 2001. Sherman was most well known for his small-scale "Spectacles," in which he would manipulate common objects on a simple table-top. He also created tiny, marvelous, imaginative, and uniquely cinematic films that have been very difficult to see until a recent revival of his work in New York allowed for a new appreciation of his work. "Stuart Sherman was like no other artist I've ever known. A sweet and gentle man whose art was nevertheless honed with a rigor and discipline that was almost frightening in its iron-clad integrity. Because instead of being shaped by the hurricane winds of the world, the minute and pure crystals of Stuart's art were able to proliferate in a thousand scattered localesÑtheir diamond-like glitter being the manner in which such detailed miniaturization testified to a defiance of received opinion and accepted artistic styles." -Richard Foreman Titles include: Globes (1977); Scotty and Stuart (1977); Skating (1978); Tree Film (1978); Edwin Denby (1978); Camera/Cage (1978); Flying (1979); Baseball/TV (1979); Fountain/Car (1980); Rock/String (1980); Elevator/Dance (1980); Hand/Water (1979); Piano/Music (1979); Roller Coaster/Reading (1979); Theatre Piece (1980); Bridge Film (1981); Racing (1981); Typewriting (Pertaining to Stefan Brecht) (1982); Chess (1982); Golf Film (1982); Fish Story (1983); Portrait of Benedicte Pesle (1984); Mr. Ashley Proposes (Portrait of George) (1985); Eating (1986); The Discovery of the Phonograph (1986) [All on video, unfortunately - it's the only way these titles are distributed currently] ...plus Brian Frye's film portrait of Sherman: Robert Beck is Alive and Well and Living in NYC (2002, 16mm) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Tuesday, February 23rd, 8 pm, Free YOU TUBE ASSEMBLY Hosted by local data-bender, Jon Satrom Presented by Homeroom Chicago The YouTube Assembly is an attempt to capture the phenomenon of viral video in a live event. The event consists of screening web-based video for a live, participating audience. Like karaoke or a traditional performance open mic, the YouTube Assembly creates a situation in which people take turns entertaining each other, in this case, by sharing their favorite Youtube clips. In the spirit of the popular YouTube interface, audience members will be encouraged to comment on the videos they watch, except out loud and in real time with no anonymity. Each screening will feature a pair of hosts from different artistic backgrounds that will share their YouTube video picks and help facilitate the evening's open mic portion. Jon Satrom is a Chicago-based artist and educator that performs experimental realtime video/audio and creates single-channel and installation-based video and new-media artworks. He enjoys exploring the systems of failure present within our culture's relationship to computers. He is also a faculty member at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, runs a small production studio called Studio Thread that caters to non-profits and arts organizations, and is involved in various solo and collective dirty new-media efforts. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Sunday, February 28th, 7 pm, $7-10 THE ROCK-AFIRE EXPLOSION A Documentary by Brett Whitcomb & Bradford Thomason In the early eighties, kids all over the US flocked to Showbiz Pizza for the rides, games, and the animatronic rock band, The Rock-afire Explosion. Created by 23-year-old computer prodigy, Aaron Fechter, The Rock-afire Explosion mesmerized many and scared some children and adults alike before being mysteriously pulled from showrooms and eventually replaced by the now popular Chuck-E-Cheese in the early nineties. Nearly twenty years later, still profoundly affected by his experience at Showbiz Pizza, smal town disc-jokey Chris Thrash sought out Fechter and purchased a Rock-afire band of his own. After some clever programming on Chris' part the band was once again performing for millions, this time on YouTube. The Rock-afire Explosion reveals how Chris came to revive this fallen 80's gem, explores his and a number of other fan's obsessions with the animatronic band, and chronicles the rise and fall of Showbiz Pizza and the invention that was once a 20 million dollar per year venture for Fecther. A free-wheeling tour through our love of nostalgia, a compelling story of 80's capitalism, and the eternal quest to stay young, THE ROCK-AFIRE EXPLOSION will please us all.