Tom Sachs Movies

July 7 – Tom Sachs Movies

“Any time you teach something it’s an opportunity to define it in greater depth and seriousness for yourself. So the movies are and continue to be a way for me to understand my practice in depth.” Tom Sachs

Tom Sachs, described in the New Yorker as “a mix of mad scientist, obsessive tinkerer, cult guru, task master general, starry-eyed theoretician and workout champion,” created “the studio” as a means to accomplish the incredibly ambitious work that has made him one of today’s most inspiring and influential sculptors. Referring to “the studio” as a teaching hospital, Sachs produced rules-of-operation, postindustrial films that are required viewing for all studio applicants. These films can be found at tomsachs.org and are available to anyone. This access has given Sachs’s “movies” a cult-like following thanks to their practical wit and philosophical insight. In each of these brief instructional films there is as much poetry as instruction at play, and in the end, their straightforward, unforgiving demands seem like words to live by for all.

After Sachs’s spring 2015 Tuesday Evenings lecture was received with great enthusiasm, it was clear that these short films should be screened as part of the Modern’s new Tuesday Evenings at the Modern: Films program. Sachs generously agreed to our holding a one-night festival to offer fans and newcomers an opportunity to gather together to watch, consider, and discuss favorites such as Love Letter to Plywood, How to Sweep, Color, Space Camp, and Ten Bullets.

Image credit: Tom Sachs, Ten Bullets, The Studio Manual, 2010. Directed by Van Neistat. 21 minutes, 7 seconds. © V. Neistat and Tom Sachs

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Tuesday Evenings at the Modern: Films is a new summer program. As an extension of the very popular lecture series Tuesday Evenings at the Modern, which is offered 10 weeks in the spring and fall of each year, this film-based weekly program runs through the summer months and strives to continue the consideration of ideas and issues pertaining to the art and architecture of the Modern and to contemporary art in general.

Selections for screenings are related to or recommended by artists and speakers who have participated in the lecture series or are otherwise affiliated with the museum. There is nothing particularly prescriptive about the line-up, but as with the lecture series, themes can be found and connections made. To create a full experience, these presentations include a brief introduction and opportunity for discussion following the films.

Seating is available in the Modern’s auditorium at 6:30 pm, and the program runs from 7 pm to no later than 9 pm. The museum’s galleries and Café Modern are open until 7 pm on Tuesdays during the run of Tuesday Evenings at the Modern: Films.

This program is free and open to the public. Up to two free tickets can be obtained at the admission desk beginning at 5 pm the day of the screening.