Most viewers wouldn't consider popping popcorn before watching a one-minute and 10-second video, but the brevity of Elka Krajewska's "70 Seconds" doesn't make this screening any less enjoyable.
Krajewska is just one of 40 artists being showcased in Hallwall's annual "Resolutions" festival. "Resolutions '06," a two-day spectacle going on this weekend, features a variety of short films, Web-based works, performances and sound art. The selection committee consists of Ron Ehmke, Carl Lee, Joanna Raczynska, JT Rinker and Carolyn Tennant who combed through 150 submissions from local, regional, national and international artists.
"The selection committee has been very impressed by the quality and daring of this year's submissions," said Joanna Raczynska, Hallwall's Media Arts Director. "The work in this year's 'Resolutions' is really brilliant."
The festival launches this Fri. Jan. 27 and Sat. Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. Different work will be on display each night. In addition to an entourage of insightful films, viewers are welcome to attend the after-party at Squeaky Wheels (712 Main St.), which begins at 10 p.m. on Saturday.
Raczynska mothered the idea for "Resolutions" and watched the project take its first steps in 2005. She noticed that new media, especially experimental and short films, were without a home in the Buffalo area.
"I was trying to fill that niche," she said. "This also seemed like a good opportunity to attract visitors to Buffalo for a unique one-time-only event at a time of year that's usually very cold and foreboding."
Mike Olenick's installation gives an idea of what to expect from the show. "For a Blonde...For a Brunette...For Someone...For Her...For You" is a karaoke-style video that imitates a scene from Hitchcock's "Vertigo." Olenick plays John Ferguson's role, while the audience is prompted to play the character Madeleine by reading subtitles.
The audience may be prodded or passive, depending on the particular installation. "Human Trials," by Josephine Anstey, Dave Pape and Sarah Bay-Cheng, networks a participant through virtual locations with the aid of human actors. The participant's interactions and responses are logged and interpreted psychologically as he or she embarks on the synthetic journey.
The entire program strives to be communicative, so it is essential that viewers interact with the installment in order to fully take advantage of the festival and its contributions.
"This festival isn't programmed by theme or tone. Each piece is unique and had its own merit," Raczynska said. "Visitors might not like everything, but they'll find something that will affect them positively."
This is the first year that "Resolutions" is being held in the renovated church on the corner of Tupper Street and Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo as a tenant of Ani DiFranco's "Righteous Babe Records."
Short films and short stories are alike in that they both require time, honest effort, and the intention to communicate something of value. Nick Golebiewski's "Gears for Fears," presents an animated history of the world's largest and longest peaceful rallies, Critical Mass. On the last Friday of every month in New York City, and in other parts of our world, hundreds of bicyclists gather in a central location and ride through the streets to demonstrate what traffic could look like.
Similarly, "Resolutions" amasses short films and other forms of media art in order to illustrate that this art form is also capable of entertaining, surprising and stimulating our minds.
"Shorts are thought of as uninteresting or not as worthwhile as feature length work, which I completely disagree with," Raczynska said. "The short format is worthy in and of itself. As a form, it allows the artist opportunities that a longer format doesn't."
Hallwalls Cinema is located at 341 Delaware Ave. Student passes are $4 for one night and $6 for two.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
