Koyaanisqatsi - VU Art Science gallery x Rialto VU
Together with Rialto VU, VU ART SCIENCE gallery is pleased to present a special screening of Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi. The film will be introduced by Simon Keizer, whose installation The Man with Ten Faces and a Hundred Arms is featured in the current exhibition Some Body.
Through The Man with Ten Faces and a Hundred Arms Keizer investigates the act of wandering in nature, combining the figure of Abraham Kuyper with Henry David Thoreau’s classic Walden. Reggio’s cult classic and specifically the score composed by Philip Glass served as inspiration for the installation. The music formed part of Keizer’s performance that took place during the opening.
The influential Koyaanisqatsi contains no dialogue for the simple reason, says director Godfrey Reggio, that language no longer describes the world we live in. In this visual poem, Reggio juxtaposes images with Philip Glass’ music. The title is a word used by Hopi Indians in the US to name a life out of balance. This film is the first and by far the best-known part of the Qatsi trilogy, which further consists of Powaqqatsi (1988) and Naqoyqatsi (2002). Godfrey Reggio co-wrote the screenplay with Ron Fricke, who is also responsible for the hypnotic images as cameraman. The credits list Francis Ford Coppola as one of the producers.
Central to this film is the relationship between nature, humans and technology. Reggio depicts that relationship with slow motion and time lapse images shot in the US of imposing landscapes and all possible forms of human intervention: mining installations, skyscrapers, artificial lakes, power lines, rocket launches, and so on.
Order your ticket here.
On the occasion of the screening the opening hours of the gallery will be extended until 7.15 PM to allow for a visit of the exhibition.