Scoot-In
Curator Bart Weiss in Attendance
As part of Insight|Out Festival
Saturday, May 19, 8:30PM
Location: Sesquicentennial Park, 500 Block of Preston Street (between Bagby and Smith)
FREE Admission
Take a ride on your two-wheeler and join Aurora Picture Show for a one-of-a-kind Scoot-In screening on Saturday, May 19th at 8:30PM in Sesquicentennial Park at the 500 block of Preston Street (between Babgy and Smith streets). Aurora reuniteswithBuffalo Bayou Partnershipand theUniversity of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Artstobring Houston another unique drive-in event in partnership with Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas of Houston. Geared toward scooterists and bicyclists as part of Insight|Out Festival, this site-specific film screening will feature artist-made short-length films and videos about two-wheelers (scooters, bicycles, unicycles, tricycles and motorcycles). Bart Weiss of the Dallas Video Festival will be the guest curator for this program.
The cultures that honor alternative modes of transportation often have a cult-like following loyal to their wheels. The works featured in this short film compilation will celebrate and explore these cultures of outcasts that thrive on creating images of themselves and their moving machines. "Untitled" and "Fast Girls, Slow Bikes" are the starting point to get us in the scooter spirit, then "Just Another Day at Art Car," brings us into a celebrated Houston culture. Patrick Waugh's "Speed Street" follows the Urban Animals skating around Houston parking garages and jousting, which is a must for a new generation to see. Moving from Houston to Pakistan, "Skateistan To Live And Skate in Kabul," gives us another perspective to how skating can change and affect culture. The last film, "Vanishing Point," also gives us a broader way to think about speed bikes and motion.
In addition to the screening, Saint Arnold Brewery will be on-site. This event is free and open to the public. People are encouraged to bring blankets or chairs, as well as picnics. Two-wheelers should follow the red brick road around Sesquicentennial Park leading to Buffalo Bayou, parking either along the side or in the designated scooter area near the front. Four-wheeler parking is available at Theater District Parking at Texas Avenue or the Downtown Aquarium Parking lot. Parking fees range from $6-$10 with limited street parking also available. Check out the hike and bike trails in the area to leave behind your car.
The Scoot-In event is part of a weekend festival presented by the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston called Insight|Out which will also include site-specific performances in other unique locations including a DiverseWorks dance performance from artist Stephan Koplowitz at the Waterwall near the Galleria and a site-specific score from composer Travis Weller at the historic Project Row Houses. Sponsors of Insight|Out Festival include CultureMap, Hines, KUHF, Fresh Arts and Uptown Houston in addition to the partners involved in Scoot-In screening.
The following films are included in this program:
UNTITLED by Gabriela Trzebinski (Van and Twinkle) is a Scooter ride on a Modern Buddy 170i via Washington and Houston Avenue, along Buffalo Bayou and ending in the Heights, Houston, Texas.
FAST GIRLS, SLOW BIKES by Joe Brown tells the story of a tight-knit girls gang brought together by a mutual love of classic Vespa and Lambretta scooters. Focusing on the lives of "Suzi Homewrecker," "Ra Ra Rass," "Lolisa," "Spam" and "Vega," the film navigates Denver's mile-high streets, the wilds of friendship and the challenge of unexpected tragedy, all from a two-wheeled perspective.
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT ART CAR by Erik Kolflat uses his Skate-Cam to Cam capture the perspective of a parade participant in the largest coolest ArtCar Parade in the world.
SPEED STREET (1985) is a Patrick Waugh classic documentary that chronicles the 1980s Houston roller-skating, the Urban Animals, and gives some historical perspective to today's wheel culture.
SKATEISTAN TO LIVE AND SKATE KABUL by Orlando Von Einsiedel is a beautifully shot film that follows the lives of a group of young skateboarders in Afghanistan. Operating against the backdrop of war and bleak prospects, the Skateistan charity project is the world's first co-educational skateboarding school, where a team of international volunteers work with girls and boys between the ages of 5 and 17, an age group largely untouched by other aid programs.
VANISHING POINT by Janet Biggs' looks at the ways in which an individual vanishes. Informed by her experiences with the effects of Alzheimer's disease, Biggs asks, "When are we no longer ourselves?" Combining images of motorcycle speed record holder Leslie Porterfield on the salt flats of Utah with Harlem's Addicts Rehabilitation Center Gospel Choir performing a song written specifically for the video, Biggs' Vanishing Point examines the struggle to maintain one's identity, the roll of those who witness that identity vanishing, and a search for freedom that can end in destruction or transcendence.
BACKTRACK AND SOUNDTRACK by Gabriela Trzebinski (Van and Twinkle) ends the program with another ride through Houston
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Bart Weiss is an award-winning independent film and video producer, director, editor and educator and consultant who has taught film and video at Texas A&M's Visualization Lab, Southern Methodist University, the University of Texas at Austin and Arlington, and West Virginia State College. He is a Co-President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) and co-founder of the Dallas Video Festival and the Video Association of Dallas.
ABOUT INSIGHT|OUT
Insight|Out is a weekend festival of media and live performance events including music, outdoor dance, and films that highlight Houston history and explore how we traverse our local landscape. Presented collaboratively by three arts organizations, Aurora Picture Show, DiverseWorks and the University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, Insight|Out location hosts include Buffalo Bayou Partnership, Project Row Houses and Uptown Houston. For more information about Insight|Out and for the full festival line up,CLICK HERE
