"Matter Falling Out of Form" is a program of experimental short films, curated by Ashley Edlund-Chescheir, PhD candidate in the Department of Romance Studies, and Paul Lorca Fuentealba, Humanities Scholars Postdoctoral Associate at the Society of the Humanities

The artist Gordon Matta-Clark's thoroughly unique artistic project was a radical investigation of architecture, deconstruction, space, and urban environments. His film and video works include documents of major pieces in New York, Paris and Antwerp, and are focused on three areas: performances and recycling pieces; space and texture works; and his building cuts.

This program showcases some of Matta-Clark’s most emblematic “cuts”. All three cuts shown in these short films—a collaboration with the Dennis Oppenheim at the "Earth Art" exhibition at Cornell in 1969, cutting Beebe Lake; the dissection of a house in Niagara Falls; and the literal “splitting” of a house in New Jersey—underscore and develop a socially engaged commentary on landscape, architecture, politics, and housing. 

Additionally, this program will feature an exclusive preview of Ovid House, a short-film inspired by Matta-Clark as a way to examine the landscape of Central NY. 

Free admission! This program is made possible through the generous support of the Cornell Council for the Arts.