Viscera

G r e a t L a k e s F I l M A s s o c I a t I o n' s

Bringing A World Of Stories To Our Shores.....

2007 Film Selections

Viscera
Experimental Short

Director: Leighton Pierce

RT: 11:00mins

Synopsis:

Evoking a small fraction of the emotional complexities of life, I am working with the question of absence and what of a person remains in the memory and imagination when that person is absent.

Constructed in three parts, this flowing video explores absence and how absence transforms and influences perception, memory, and imagination.

Filmmaker Bio:

With over 60 awards from national and international festivals, Leighton Pierce’s work has long been an influence in the experimental film and video world. Recently moving out of that world into the realm of the art museum and gallery, his work has been presented at the 2002 Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Centre Pompidou, and the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art. Pierce is also the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships including fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, the NEA, the Camargo Foundation, and the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrospectives and programs of his recent work appeared at The Lincoln Center, The Cinémathèque française, The Montreal Film Festival, Festival Nemo in Paris, Centre Pompidou, and at The Lisbon Biennial of Contemporary Art . Most recently, he has produced video installations that have been exhibited at The Exploratorium in San Francisco , The Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, and as part of several group shows. Through March 12th 2006, his major 13 channel architectural installation, Warm Occlusion, is on view in The North Gallery of the University of Iowa Museum of Art.

Pierce studied ceramics and music composition, especially jazz and electronic music, before making films. In fact, his first move into filmmaking came about from his frustration with the lack of a visual component to taped music. It is a continuation of this early interest in music and the construction of emotional experiences in time that continue to guide his work. He has made over 40 short films, videos, audio compositions, and installations.