TICKETS $15

Doors 6:30 p.m.; Event 7 p.m.
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THE EXPERIENCE

In connection with the Psychedelic Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960s exhibition at the Portland Art Museum, in which several of his early posters are featured, we are thrilled to welcome acclaimed Portland-based filmmaker and multimedia artist Jim Blashfield. Renowned for his richly layered, surreal animations and music videos for artists including Talking Heads, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Tears for Fears, and others, Blashfield is a pioneering force in experimental moving image art. Whether creating exploratory solo projects or working with a group of muli-talented collaborators on elaborate projects at Blashfield Studio (co-founded with producer Melissa Marsland) the work has attracted numerous honors: among them a Cannes Golden Lion, a Grammy Award, and numerous MTV awards, as well as rapturous reviews in Connoisseur Magazine and The New Yorker. For this special event, Jim has curated a selection of his short films and music videos, followed by a moderated Q&A exploring his creative process and celebrated career with OPB Producer Eric Slade.

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ON SCREEN

SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES

1984 | 13 min | Called “a detective story a la Salvador Dali and Betty Crocker” this animated film chronicles a midnight visit to the home of Herbert and Lenore by a pair of flying hands bent on mischief, destruction, and what appears to be a bit of a wine tasting. Herbert will have none of it. Writer, Director, Art Director, Animator, Editor. Official U.S. entry in many international festivals.  

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THE MID-TORSO  OF INEZ

1978 | 28 min | In this noirish comedy masquerading as a detective story, Grandfather tells Lois Ann an oblique and possibly unreliable tale about some events in his life that he would apparently rather not remember. A sheep, some mysterious photographs and an industrialist named Magpie figure in. Writer, Director, Cinematographer. Co-producer Vernon Cleve Luce.

 

 AND SHE  WAS  / Talking Heads

1985 | 4 min | “And she was looking at herself, and things were looking like a movie…” MTV NOMINATIONS: Best Group Video & Best Concept Video

 

 

GOOD FRIENDS / Joni Mitchell

1985 | 5 min | “Sitt’n around in some all-night zoo, watching it run like a movie…”

 

 

 

 

I CAN’T WAIT / Nu Shooz

 

 

 

 

 

BOY IN THE BUBBLE  /  Paul Simon

1987 | 4 min | “It was a slow day and the sun was beating on the soldiers by teh side of the road…” MTV NOMINATIONS: Best Video, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Most Experimental, & Viewers’ Choice

 

 

 

DON’T GIVE UP   /  Peter Gabriel  w/ Kate Bush

1988 | 7 min | “For every job so many men, so many men no one needs…”

 

 

 

LEAVE ME ALONE  /  Michael Jackson

1989 | 5 min | “Leave me alone…stop it! Just stop doggin’ me around!” GRAMMY: Best Music Video
CANNES GOLDEN LION: Best Special Effects
MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARD: Best Special Effects
MTV NOMINATIONS: Best Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Viewers’ Choice​

 

SOWING THE SEEDS OF LOVE  / Tears for Fears

1990 | 5 min | “Time to eat all your words, swallow your pride, open your eyes…”
MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS: Best Special Effects and Breakthrough Video
MTV NOMINATIONS: Best Concept Video, Best Post Modern Video, Breakthrough Video, and Best Special Effects.

WALK
THROUGH THE WORLD   /  Marc Cohn

1992 | 5 min | “Everything is bound to rise and fall, that is all…”

 

 

 

 

BUNNYHEADS 

2007 | 5 min | A film about a strange hive of archetypal beings who inhabit a netherworld reminiscent of both Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and some mysterious place under someone’s basement stairs. Writer, Director, Editor. Collaboration with sculptor Christine Bourdette.

 

 

VANITY

2010 | 2 min |  A 1950s film promoting “better living through chemistry” is transformed into a dreamily provocative, and slightly disturbing meditation on… the pursuit of beauty?… dueling aspects of a guilt infested self?… yoga for the genetically modified? Director, Editor. Sacrificial footage obtained from Prelinger Archives.

 

HANDBOOK OF THE DEAD  /  Blue Cranes

2021 | 5 min | A short film for the Blue Cranes’ musical composition “Handbook of the Dead” created through the re-purposing and re-editing of images and image juxtapositions originally created by painter Roger Kukes for his silent single-framed 16 millimeter experimental documentary portrait of place,”Interval,” in 1969.

 

THE LONE RANGER   

2002 | 8 min | This interpretation of the Bill Frisell composition creates a graphic and emotional landscape by turns comforting and unsettling. The images– clearly of this world but not immediately identifiable– merge with the soundscape to create a sometimes tumultuous, dreamlike state that seems to hover in space between the preconscious and the conscious. From the album “Before We Were Born.” Commissioned by the Experience Music Project Director, Editor

 

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ON STAGE: Jim Blashfield

Jim Blashfield’s work covers a wide range—from current multiple screen moving image and sound installations, to live-action and animated narratives,​ experimental films, and a series of classic music videos.​ A member of the vital Pacific Northwest film community, Blashfield’s work has been screened and broadcast internationally. He has presented work at the Chicago Art Institute, Ottawa Animation Festival, Northwest Film Center, Seattle Art Museum, Walker Art Center, Art Futura in Barcelona, and elsewhere. In the mid-1980s Jim’s work caught the attention of some of the era’s most creative musicians working in popular music thanks in large part to Blashfield Studios co-founder and producer Melissa Marsland. The high profile music videos created for Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Tears for Fears and others expanded awareness of Blashfield’s work internationally. A previous recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Oregon Arts Commission, Blashfield’s work was recognized during this period with a Grammy, a Cannes Golden Lion, and several MTV awards and nominations.

Eric Slade (Moderator) – Eric Slade is a documentary filmmaker whose work includes Rothko: Pictures Must Be Miraculous for PBS American Masters, Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton, and Hope Along the Wind: The Life of Harry Hay. After 15 years in the San Francisco film world, he returned home to Portland in 2001, producing for PBS shows like History Detectives and Great Lodges of the National Parks, as well as creating films for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Today, he’s a producer for the Oregon Public Broadcasting series Oregon Art Beat, where he created the half hour special Oregon’s Animation Magic.