Facing West Shadows(Free) ShadowLight residency at Red Poppy Art House

Join us for our monthly ShadowLight program at Red Poppy Art House with Lydia Greer's performance of Facing West Shadows: The Endless End!

Lydia Greer will demonstrate a short segment of the extended cinema performance version of Facing West Shadows: The Endless End, demonstrating shadow and mirror puppetry (phantasmagoria) and guiding audiences to create their own shadow puppets inspired by the local Bay Area natural world.

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: The Endless End is a cinematic, sculptural installation also performed as extended cinema that illuminates the perpetuation of extinction and survival; the disrupted life cycles of native plants and animals, aquatic systems, and fire ecologies as affected by anthropogenic climate change. The viewer’s attention is guided through projected moving images, hand-made animation, and cast shadows with a multi-dimensional soundscape. Collapsing and expanding time, species will live and die over the span of an hour of looping overlapping, multichannel, and multidirectional projection. In a sculptural environment, our role as animals within a system and as the planet’s apex predator is illuminated.

As in proto-cinematic cave paintings and ancient shadow theatre storytelling traditions, Facing West Shadows seeks to understand non-human species and our relationships with them. Among their inspirations are the Bay Area’s own precarious and diverse ecologies and Eadweard Muybridge’s electro-photographic investigation of consecutive phases of animal movements. By weaving multiple moving images of Bay Area ecologies, mycorrhizal networks, fire, and water, Facing West Shadows: The Endless End takes the viewer on a time-based and immersive journey through cycles of ecological and species extinction and sometimes, survival.

Facing West Shadows principal members: Lydia Greer (artistic director) and Caryl Kientz (theatrical director) in collaboration with artist Ya Wen Chien is a collective of artists, puppeteers, filmmakers, and musicians hybridizing art forms to create magical acts of rebellion as experimental art that is sustainable in the current gold rush climate of the Bay Area.

Facing West Shadows combines analog shadow theatre with original animation, video projection of found footage, and sometimes Opera performed live. Expanding into film, theatre, and installation, Facing West Shadows depicts stories re-imagined with unique visual storytelling to create surprising experiences for the audience by seamlessly combining old and new technologies and art forms.

For more information, visit the project website https://www.facingwestshadows.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CCGu1LZhFrE/

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Lydia Greer is a widely exhibiting interdisciplinary visual artist, filmmaker, animator, and the artistic director of Facing West Shadows, a Lumia arts collective working with shadow casting/ hybridizing art forms to create magical acts of rebellion as experimental art in the gold rush climate of the San Francisco Bay Area. Expanding into film/animation, theater/opera, puppetry, and sculptural installation, Facing West Shadows creates surprising experiences for the audience by seamlessly combining old and new technologies and art forms. Her layered, mixed media work includes sculptural and video installation, hand-made stop motion animation, single and multiple channel video, puppet theater, and works with paper.

Website: https://www.lydiagreer.com/about/-bio---

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Red Poppy Art House has partnered up with ShadowLight Productions for free monthly programs by ShadowLight artists for children and families. With instruction and guidance by ShadowLight teaching artists, attendees will be given the opportunity to make a shadow puppet, learn performance techniques, and use our screen and lights to perform their own short plays. This event is appropriate for children ages 3 to 12.

This FREE event creates an opportunity for youth in our neighborhood (Mission), who may otherwise not be able to attend such an event for lack of funds, to have access to art education with high-caliber teaching artists. By providing an opportunity to watch, interact, and play, we are encouraging participation and engagement with a vital storytelling art form. Storytelling is an important skill; it helps us to understand ourselves and one another, encouraging empathy.

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ShadowLight was founded in 1972 by filmmaker/theatre director/shadow artist Larry Reed. We have served San Francisco as a non profit theater company for nearly 30 years.

The mission of ShadowLight Productions is to expose the general public to the art of Shadow Theater. The means of providing such exposure includes but is not limited to live theater, film and other media. We strive to preserve indigenous shadow theater traditions, and to explore and expand the possibilities of the shadow theater medium by creating innovative interdisciplinary, multicultural works.

Website: https://www.shadowlight.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShadowLightProductions
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadowlightproductions/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shadowlightproductions

When should I arrive?Doors open 30 minutes before the scheduled performance time. For example, if the show is scheduled to start at 7:30pm, the doors will open at 7:00pm. If the show is scheduled to start at 8:00pm, the doors will open at 7:30pm, and so on.

If an event is sold out online, could I still purchase tickets? No

Does purchasing an advance ticket guarantee seating?Purchasing an advance ticket guarantees admission, but does not guarantee seats. Seating is first come, first served.

Does the Poppy accept debit or credit cards? Only for online sale. Door sale is cash.

What's the refund policy?Refunds are only available in the event of a cancelled performance.

Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event? Is there a discount for children?No, this event is all ages. However, refreshments will be served at the concessions counter. Children 10 and under receive free general admission.

Where are my tickets?Your tickets will be emailed to you as a PDF attachment from Eventbrite on behalf of the Red Poppy, or you may access them in the Eventbrite app. If you do not see your order confirmation in your inbox, make sure to check your junk/spam folder. Enter your email address here if you can’t find them, you’re having trouble printing, or if you’re not sure if you have an Eventbrite account. For all other technical issues, you can find help here.

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?You may bring your printed ticket or show your ticket on your phone. There will be no tickets available for pick up at Will Call.

Is it ok if the name on my ticket or registration doesn't match the person who attends?Yes, you’re welcome to purchase tickets for someone else.

Is the space ADA accessible? Yes, there is a ramp at our 23rd St entrance.

What kind of seating do you have available? For most of our events we have folding chairs and a few couches available.

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?Street parking is available but can be limited around the Red Poppy. We encourage you to take public transportation whenever possible. Several MUNI lines run close to the Red Poppy, and the 24th St. Mission BART station is just under half a mile away.

How can I donate to the Poppy? You may bring cash, check, debit or credit card, or donate online at http://redpoppyarthouse.org/participate/give/.

Where can I grab a bite to eat? Nearby places include El Farolito, Taqueria Vallarta, Basa Seafood Express (sushi), and Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine. For more options, click here.

How can I contact the organizer with any questions? You can reach us at [email protected]

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Red Poppy Art House, 2698 Folsom Street, San Francisco, United States