Ericka Beckman, You The Better, Film Installation, 1983/2015. T. B. Walker Acquisition Fund and the Bentson Foundation through support of the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection, 2015. Courtesy Walker Art Center.
Moving image is the contemporary art of time, light, and documentation. It includes film, video, animation, and hybrid works that challenge how we tell stories. From silent shorts to multiscreen installations, moving image artists use the language of cinema to explore everything from memory and identity to culture, history, and humor.
At the Walker Art Center, moving image is a way of seeing the world, both up close and at a distance. Our Moving Image Department is internationally recognized for supporting adventurous artists working across styles and formats, from narrative film and documentary to experimental cinema and sound-based work. Through screenings, artist residencies, and film series, we honor both cinematic history and its ever-changing present.
Much of this unfolds at the Walker Cinema. Equipped with cutting-edge projection and the flexibility to showcase work in analogue and digital formats, it hosts screenings, retrospectives, and conversations that turn filmgoing into a communal act of discovery. For a more intimate encounter, the Bentson Mediatheque invites visitors to curate their own experience, selecting from over 400 titles in the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection, from avant-garde classics to contemporary gems.
So what is moving image? It’s motion with meaning. A sequence of frames that expands your frame of mind. A flickering examination of the world around you.
