Expanded Cinema at the Salt Lake Water School

Join UMOCA for an evening of expanded cinema at Oscar Tuazon’s Salt Lake Water School on Abravanel Hall Plaza. Projected on 16mm by artist Ian Burnley, the program features two landmark experimental films—James Cagle’s Waterwork (1970) and Joyce Wieland’s Dripping Water (1969)—on loan from The Film-Makers’ Cooperative, which John Waters once called “the coolest film organization in the world.” Burnley specializes in “looping” film prints; for the past decade, he has worked as a projectionist and installer of works on 16mm at galleries and museums across the country.

James Cagle’s Waterwork (1970) transforms the simple act of looking at rushing river water into a mesmerizing optical experience, revealing how cinema can alter our sense of space, direction, and time. Joyce Wieland’s Dripping Water (1969) offers a stark yet tender view of water gathering in a plate, paired with the resonant sound of each drop. Together, the films invite viewers into states of contemplation—at once meditative, disorienting, and deeply attuned to the ordinary wonders around us.

Screened at Tuazon’s Salt Lake Water School, a modular structure built to foster conversation about the Great Salt Lake and our shared responsibility to water, the program highlights how moving image, architecture, and environment converge to shape awareness of this urgent landscape.

This screening is presented in partnership with Wake the Great Salt Lake, a temporary public art initiative. Supported provided by Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge, Powder Art Foundation, Salt Lake County Arts & Culture, Emerson Collective, and Courtesy of Luhring Augustine, New York.

No RSVP needed—stop by anytime between 7–8:30 pm, come and go freely, and stay as long as you wish.