ELECTRIC LAB FILM SERIES

Since its advent, electricity has metaphorically and physically illuminated mankind. The Electric Lab film program casts a critical glance into the history of electricity with five films that explore its aesthetic, scientific and sociological relevance. One film will be played each day over the course of the exhibition.

TUESDAYS

The Future is Not What it Used to Be

2004, 52 minutes

 

A profile of Erkki Kurenniemi, an early inventor of electronic synthesizers and microcomputers, whose career represents a surprisingly natural blend of music, film, computers, robotics, science and art. Courtesy of Icarus Films.

 

Director: Mika Taanila

WEDNESDAYS

Frankenstein

1931, 71 minutes

 

The classic Boris Karloff film about an obsessed scientist who assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses and the spark of electricity.

 

Director: James Whale

THURSDAYS

Electric Edwardians

2006, 85 minutes

 

Originally aired as part of a British TV series about British Primitives. Filmed between 1900-13 by Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon for traveling cinema tours, this recently unearthed silent footage provides a haunting glimpse into life during Britain’s Victorian Industrial Age.

 

Director: Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon

FRIDAYS

Electric Dragon 80,000 Volts

2001, 55 minutes

 

A black and white Japanese film with an industrial/punk soundtrack about a supercharged reptile investigator, Dragon Eye Morrison, who battles the evil Thunderbolt Buddha in an electrified rock 'n' roll battle for the supremacy of Tokyo.

 

Director: Sogo Ishii

SATURDAYS

Tesla: Master of Lightning

2000, 90 minutes

 

A documentary about this forgotten genius and his revolutionary inventions.

 

PBS