- Athanasius Kircher/Wikimedia Commons
- A vintage drawing of a magic lantern, precursor to the film projector
Tomorrow night at 7 PM, the Logan Center for the Arts at University of Chicago will host the first of a fascinating two-part program called Visions of Scale. The event begins with a multimedia presentation by Artemis Willis called Performing the Night Sky, which re-creates a popular entertainment from the 19th century. As the press notes describe it: “A century before Georges MĂ©liès’s Le Voyage Dans La Lune, the night sky was ‘performed’ by colorful moving images, voice, music, and projection. Featuring digital reanimations of the Adler Planetarium’s mechanical astronomical lantern slides, a collaged soundtrack, and Terri Kapsalis in the role of the lecturer, this performance evokes a poetic encounter with the infinite.” The program will then turn from the very large to the very small with a 35-millimeter presentation of the sci-fi classic The Incredible Shrinking Man. As usual with U of C Film Studies Center events, this is free and open to the public, although seating is first come, first served.