Join us for two free screenings of Raphael Montañez Ortiz's videos/films. These works are concurrent with similar films by Bruce Conner and other avant-garde filmmakers around the world, but they signal a distinct alternative to traditionally modernist work relying on classical music composition and “diagnostic” editing as a critique of media culture. Ortiz extended his work from ritual destruction to performance-based editing in the 1980s and 1990s through what he called “scratch videos.” His extensive media collection — archived at UCLA — includes footage documenting the emergence of performance, installation art and experimental music in New York City. This two-night program surveys the full scope of his media art since the late 1950s. Both screenings will take place at the Billy Wilder Theater in the Hammer Museum. Dec. 8 - 7:30 pm: Program 1: Taking an Axe and Hole Punch to Celluloid + Filming Destructions Dec. 10 - 7pm: Program 2: Scratch Videos