Coast to Coast with Nancy Cain

Nancy Cain, PRO-CHOICE RALLY IN LA, 1989, 7min

Sunday, October 10th, 7pm
in-person at Nightingale Cinema

"In the beginning there was video and it was good. Back then video technology was still virtually unknown.... I would see people pointing at me and my camera and they would be smiling and waving. They'd want to know how much it cost, was it heavy, and what was it for. It cost about fifteen hundred dollars, the deck and camera together weighed about twenty pounds, and it was for adventure and freedom and possibilities and truth. It wasn't movies or television, it was video. Video was a rover. Video came along for the ride. Video was immediate. It was participatory." —Nancy Cain

A celebration of the life and work of Nancy Cain, showcasing a selection of Cain's videos recorded from 1971-1992 across the United States. Cain was a founding member of Videofreex, who later became a co-creator and producer of the alternative PBS show The 90s as well as CamNet The Camcorder Network, America's first all-camcorder channel. In these works, Cain examines the commodification of the American Left and continually thwarts mainstream expectations of how the media should operate. Programmed by Zach Vanes.

Program Details:

Shot in New York

ME'S AND YOUSE VARIANT, 1971, 2min

A classic Videofreex face swapping experiment sent to "The Weight" set at chipmunk-speed, featuring Parry Teasdale, Bart Friedman, Carol Von Toble, Skip Blumberg, and Nancy Cain.

HARRIET, 1973, 14min

Nancy Cain's experimental portrait of her working class neighbor in Lanesville, NY. In the tape, Cain uses an innovative editing style to deconstruct verite production and empower her subject.

Shot in Illinois

HUMAN HAIR, 1979, 13min (excerpted from 27min)

Made in collaboration with Bart Friedman as artists-in-residence at the Chicago Editing Center. Industrial waste, insurance fires, and a trip to the top of the world's tallest building are all captured in this wry portrait of the City of Big Shoulders.

Shot in California

PRO-CHOICE RALLY IN LA, 1989, 7min

Celebrities attending include Barbra Streisand, Goldie Hawn, Leonard Nimoy, Mariel Hemingway and her baby. The celebrities drive up in their limos, step out for a minute or two, then drive away.

MUZAK, 1992, 4min

A light-hearted visit (with Orwellian undertones) to the Fashion Island Mall in Newport Beach, California to learn more about the Muzak system.

AT HOME, 1988, 7min

A video journal entry that documents a fundraiser in Venice Beach for orphans in El Salvador that gets increasingly out of hand when protesters show up. Ed Asner makes an appearance.

Programmed by Zach Vanes. Videos courtesy of Video Data Bank at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Media Burn.

Proof of vaccination will be required to attend, and masks will be worn at all times.

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Upcoming Events at the Nightingale

Works by Danny Carroll, Saturday, November 6th, 7pm

Soledad Fátima Muñoz: La parte de atrás de las arpilleras, Saturday, November 13th, 7pm

Works by Jose Luis Benavides, Friday, November 19th, 7pm

Works by Kayla Anderson, Saturday, December 4th, 7pm

and many more!