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
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.