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The Decay of Fiction

Screening on Film
Directed by Pat O'Neill.
US, 2002, 35mm, color and b&w, 74 min.

California-based artist Pat O’Neill is a photographer and sculptor who turned to filmmaking in the 1960s, where his interest in space and imagery took on the kinetic shape of cinematic experimentation. In this intersection of fact and hallucination set in the abandoned Ambassador Hotel, ghosts of images from films past haunt the halls of the decaying luxury getaway. With masterful optical printing, O’Neill creates a densely layered tapestry of visuals which are superimposed against the deteriorating surface of the once-grand hotel. Loosely organized by a noir-ish narrative, O’Neill’s work blends fact and fiction to construct a thoughtful meditation on myth and memory.

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