FILM/VIDEO ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE ALAN BERLINER
   

In his latest work, The Sweetest Sound (2001), filmmaker Alan Berliner invites 12 other Alan Berliners to a dinner party. Annoyed by frequently being mistaken for, say, the celebrated Belgian filmmaker or the Los Angeles photographer known for his photos of Madonna, Berliner decided to plumb the depths of his own name. The resulting film, to be screened next month at the Walker, is a thematic keystone for his museumwide exploration of names and naming: the Andersen Window Gallery features his installation The Language of Names, developed as part of his yearlong Walker residency; a lobby wall currently displays a mural--conceived as a poem about naming, diversity, and community--bearing the 18,250 surnames of residents in the 10-zip-code area surrounding the Walker; and an online discussion group visited daily by Berliner, plus five digital projects, also examine names--what the artist calls "our titles, our passports to the world, the opening words to the stories of our lives."

Pedestal Armchair with Cushion
Alan Berliner
photo: Dan Dennehy

YOUR NAME HERE: ALAN BERLINER AT CAFE.UTNE.COM
APRIL 1-26
What's in a name? Join filmmaker Alan Berliner and Walker Film/Video Associate Curator Sheryl Mousley for an interactive online forum in Café Utne throughout April (cafe.utne.com). Focusing on genealogy and both historic and self-attributed meanings of names, Berliner will log on each day to moderate a virtual discussion on the topic, along with Mousley and members of the Walker and Café Utne staffs. Café Utne is an award-winning online community hosted by our neighbors at the Utne Reader magazine. Registration is free.

BERLINER ONLINE
GALLERY9.WALKERART.ORG/BERLINER/
Alan Berliner and the Walker have collaborated on the creation of five "experiences" related to names--our personal badges of identification. Visitors can participate within the physical space of the Andersen Window Gallery or online. Each version, virtual and tactile, invites the viewer to investigate the relationships between names and self-identity, history, geography, and lineage.

 

ALAN BERLINER'S FILM/VIDEO RESIDENCY IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS AND THE LILA WALLACE-READER'S DIGEST FUND. THE ANDERSEN WINDOW GALLERY IS MADE POSSIBLE BY GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM ANDERSEN CORPORATION. ADDITIONAL SUPPORT IS PROVIDED BY THE PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS AND BETLACH FAMILY FOUNDATION.