DISCOUNTS FOR THIS SHOW: $5 for members of the Architecture League (use discount code ARCHI1) and the Park Slope Food Coop (use discount code COOP1) when buying tickets online. You must present your valid membership card at the door to gain admittance at this price.
Saturday, June 24th, 2006
8:30 - Live Music and Projections: Rural Electrification (click for details)
9:00 - The name Bozo Texino has been scrawled on a million railcars—but who the hell is he?
On the roof of The Old American Can Factory | DIRECTIONS
232 3rd Street @ 3rd Avenue, Gowanus, Brooklyn
In the event of rain the show is indoors at the same location.
SPECIAL NOTE: Capacity on the rooftop is limited to 200 people. In the event we sell out the roof in advance, we will be accepting walk-up patrons for our lovely courtyard. The best way to guarantee yourself a spot on the roof is to buy a ticket in advance.
Who Is Bozo Texino? Who Is Bozo Texino? is a great American movie, and its greatness is tied up very closely with its American-ness. With this brilliant experimental documentary, self-styled hobo filmmaker Daniel places himself firmly in the bootprints of Jack London, Jack Kerouac, Walt Whitman, Woody Guthrie—a fine, long tradition of American artists who look for their inspiration to the marginal, the underclass, the vagabond and the outcast. Nominally a chronicle/survey/history of boxcar graffiti (a tradition as old as the railroad itself) and the men who create it, Who Is Bozo Texino? soon transcends its narrow subject-matter to become a gloriously rough-edged elegy for an America which is being swept away before our eyes.
For over 10 years, Daniel filmed his travels on freight trains and through rail yards across North America, meeting countless men who are proud to ascribe to a lifestyle as a hobo. Far from being "bums," these men live by a code of ethics in which they use what resources are available, do honest work when they need to, and help each other out, often communicating through informational graffiti. As part of their pride, most hobos have a tag, a nickname and a symbol they scrawl in grease pencil on the walls of the trains they inhabit. One of the most prolific yet enigmatic of all the hobo signatures is that of Bozo Texino. In this gorgeously filmed documentary, Bill Daniel takes us on a search for a little known American legend, and illustrates a little understood American way of life.
Press forWho Is Bozo Texino?:
"Who Is Bozo Texino? is a great American movie, and its greatness is tied up very closely with its American-ness. With this brilliant experimental documentary, self-styled hobo film-maker Daniel places himself firmly in the bootprints of Jack London, Jack Kerouac, Walt Whitman, Woody Guthrie - a fine, long tradition of American artists who look for their inspiration to the marginal, the underclass, the vagabond and the outcast. Nominally a chronicle/survey/history of boxcar graffiti (a tradition as old as the railroad itself) and the men who create it, Who Is Bozo Texino? soon transcends its narrow subject-matter to become a gloriously rough-edged elegy for an America which is being swept away before our eyes."
—Neil Young's Film Lounge
"By documenting the remnants of a subculture for whom the slogan "Live free or die" is something other than license plate trim, Bill Daniel reminds us that there once was a time when homelessness wasn't a problem but a choice, and finding work was as easy as hopping the next westbound train."
—Andrew Hultkrans for the Stim Website
The film will be preceded by shorts: Ghost Towns of Arizona (Robert Greene | New York, NY | 7:00)
A mysterious and lovely history of the American desert, past, present and future.
At the Quinte Hotel (Bruce Alcock | Vancouver, BC | 4:00)
A delightful animated interpretation of a poem by the legendary poet Al Purdy, recited by Purdy himself in one of his life's last recordings.
Smitten (Nancy Kelly | Greenbrae, CA | 27:00)
A love story about art. 85-year-old Rene di Rosa is an unusual art collector whose goal is neither about interior decorating nor increasing social status, but about the pure joy of discovery. Rene's collection is considered the largest and most notable collection of Northern California art in America.
THE MUSIC:
Rural Electrification is a Elizabeth Brown's chamber opera for voice, theremin, and recorded sound. Brown will play theremin with Lothar Osterburg's video projections in excerpts from the piece, which was presented by XO Projects in May at The Old American Can Factory.
