Session 2: Eventually Everything Connects
A visual conversation about the Films of Charles and Ray Eames, with Eames Demetrios and Eric Schuldenfrei. 90 mins
The cycle The Films of Charles and Ray Eames, composed by two sessions, offers a unique opportunity to see and debate some of the duo’s most singular and influential experiments with the moving image – a medium which they explored as an integral part of their design process, using it not only as a vessel to convey a message but also as a tool to search and develop new ideas. “Make the best, for the most, for the least” is one of Charles and Ray’s most famous mottos, which still remains remarkably pertinent, making this journey through their films an essential experience to bring the Eameses’ philosophy in design and architecture into today’s eyes.
The first session, at 19.00, will screen a combination of landmark and rarely seen films, made between the 1950s and the 1970s. The programme ranges from the Eameses’ investigations into visual communication and storytelling to poetic studies of everyday rituals, commissions for corporate clients and seminal explorations and illustrations of the burgeoning ‘Age of Information’.
The second session, at 21.30, will be developed as a visual conversation between Eames Demetrios and Eric Schuldenfrei, chaired by Justin Jaeckle, about the films, philosophy and imaginary of Charles and Ray Eames. Illustrated by clips and images from the Eames and others, the wide-ranging conversation will explore the Eameses’ pioneering use of film as a means to disseminate and create knowledge, foregrounding the duo’s experimentation with the formal and social possibilities of cinema. Other topics to be expected include the Eameses’ use of the media to promote their visions for living, the pair’s engagement with Hollywood and politics, and their life-long mission to increase the creative and civic capacity of the individual.
Curated by Justin Jaeckle with Alexandra Areia, The Films of Charles and Ray Eames is a collaboration between Arquiteturas Film Festival, Cinemateca Portuguesa and MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology. The events are both part of Arquiteturas Film Festival 2016 and public programme for the MAAT exhibition, The World of Charles and Ray Eames.
The conversation will be held in English. Films will be screened in English with Portuguese subtitles, from brand new digital transfers courtesy of the Library of Congress and the Eames Office, some of which have been kindly created especially for this screening.
The realisation of this cycle would not be possible without the invaluable support of the Cinemateca Portuguesa, The Library of Congress and The Eames Office, and the sponsorship of FAMO Working Together – Office Furniture Solutions.
