Skip navigation

Main menu

  • What's on
  • Art & Artists
    • The Collection
      Artists
      Artworks
      Art by theme
      Media
      Videos
      Podcasts
      Short articles
      Learning
      Schools
      Art Terms
      Tate Research
      Art Making
      Create like an artist
      Kids art activities
      Tate Draw game
  • Visit
  • Shop
Become a Member
  • DISCOVER ART
  • ARTISTS A-Z
  • ARTWORK SEARCH
  • ART BY THEME
  • VIDEOS
  • ART TERMS
  • SCHOOLS
  • TATE KIDS
  • RESEARCH
  • Tate Britain
    Tate Britain Free admission
  • Tate Modern
    Tate Modern Free admission
  • Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
    Tate Liverpool + RIBA North Free admission
  • Tate St Ives
    Tate St Ives Ticket or membership card required
  • FAMILIES
  • ACCESSIBILITY
  • SCHOOLS
  • PRIVATE TOURS
Tate Logo
Become a Member
Tate Modern Film

Michael Snow: Waivelength

13 February 2019 at 18.30–20.40
​Michael Snow and Mani Mazinani Waivelength 2019, video still. Courtesy the artists

​Michael Snow and Mani Mazinani Waivelength 2019, video still. Courtesy the artists

​See the artist’s landmark film followed by the world premiere of a new audio performance

Canadian artist Michael Snow is celebrated for his groundbreaking work in a range of media including film, video and sound. Over the last six decades, his practice has explored the characteristics of these media in great depth, addressing questions of time, movement and perception.

We are honoured to welcome the artist to Tate to screen his renowned film Wavelength 1967, followed by the world premiere of Waivelength 2019, a new audio performance specially conceived for Tate Modern's Starr Cinema.

A feat of structural filmmaking, Wavelength unfolds as a gradual zoom from one side of the artist’s loft to the other, accompanied by the sound of a rising sine wave. The film is punctuated by changes in light, colour filters and four moments in which human characters appear, gesturing towards a narrative.

After a short break, Snow and collaborator Mani Mazinani will premiere an audio performance entitled Waivelength. The immersive performance reworks the film's sine wave soundtrack into a new composition distributed across multiple channels of sound in real time.​​

Waivelength will mark the third work Snow has made using materials from the film, following Slidelength 1969–71, a slide installation incorporating film stills and colour filters, and WVLNT (or Wavelength For Those Who Don't Have the Time) 2003, a digital version of the film condensed to one third of its duration through superimposition.

Slidelength 1969-71 forms part of the Tate Collection and is currently on view in Tate Modern’s Materials and Objects collection display.

Programme

Introduction

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, 16mm, colour, sound, 45 min

break

Michael Snow and Mani Mazinani Waivelength, audio performance, 35 min

This programme is supported by Tate Canada Foundation.

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, film still. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, film still. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, film still. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, film still. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, film still. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, film still. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, film still. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London

Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, film still. Courtesy the artist and LUX, London

Biographies

Michael Snow

Michael Snow (b.1928, Canada) is an artist working in sculpture, painting, photography, holography, installation, bookwork, film, video, sound and public commissions, currently based in Toronto. Over the last six decades, his practice has explored the characteristics of a range of media, raising questions of time, movement and perception. As a professional jazz pianist, Snow performs solo as well as with various ensembles, including his long-standing collaboration CCMC. He has had extensive exhibitions and retrospectives of his films and art at prestigious institutions the world over. Snow has been honoured with numerous awards, including the Order of Canada, the first Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts for cinema and the Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 1995, he was made a Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres in France.

Mani Mazinani

Mani Mazinani (b.1984, Iran) is a Toronto-based artist working in installation, video, film, photographs, multiples and sound. His practice evolved from an early interest in sound recording, and now explores the process of translating thoughts into recordings. His visual work is concerned with scale and perception, often combining subject matter and medium. In 2019, his Aerophone Recordings label will issue the LP Shift, made in collaboration with Sanaz Mazinani and Michael Snow. Recent exhibitions and performances include Tehran International Electronic Music Festival (2017); Suzhou Industrial Park Culture & Expo Square (2016); Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (2015); and CAB Art Centre, Brussels (2013). His collaborations with Michael Snow, including music, performance, video, installation and sound, have been ongoing since 2002.

Tate Modern

Starr Cinema

Bankside
London SE1 9TG
Plan your visit

Date & Time

13 February 2019 at 18.30–20.40

Supported by

Artwork
Close

Join in

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Sign up to emails

Sign up to emails

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tate’s privacy policy

About

  • About us
  • Our collection
  • Terms and copyright
  • Governance
  • Picture library
  • ARTIST ROOMS
  • Tate Kids

Support

  • Tate Collective
  • Members
  • Patrons
  • Donate
  • Corporate
  • My account
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Contact
© The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery, 2025
All rights reserved