2008, 68 min., dual-projection 16mm

This double-projector film performance by New York artist Jennifer Reeves pays rapturous homage to the endangered beauty of our blue planet. Composed in four parts to represent the four seasons and cardinal directions, When It Was Blue traverses the globe and its diverse ecosystems from New Zealand to Iceland, the Americas and beyond, rejoicing in myriad fauna and flora, mountains, forests, oceans, the splendor of seasonal change—in short, the expanse of life as it exists on earth. Reeves hand-paints frames and optically prints other images to create impressionistic textures in what critic Mark Peranson calls “a wide-ranging play on the notion of ‘blue’—the color, the sensation, the sinking realization that the natural world (and 16mm film) must be captured as much as possible before it disappears.” New York-based bass player and composer Skúli Sverrisson—who directs music for Laurie Anderson—plays his soaring score live.

In person: Jennifer Reeves and Skúli Sverrisson*

*NOTE: We are pleased to announce that Skúli Sverrisson managed to get on a plane from Europe and is currently in Los Angeles. He will perform his music live!

Curated by Steve Anker and Bérénice Reynaud.