New Video Art Project Highlights Good Times Captured On Old Home Movies

WDCB’s Gary Zidek catches up with Chicago-based filmmaker Colin Mason to talk about his new project, A CELEBRATION.

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Long before we could pull phones out of our pockets to record any mundane detail of our day, making a video recording required some thought and effort. In the 50s and 60s people primarily recorded on cameras that used 16 mmm, 8mm and super 8 film. They were often only brought out for special occasions. Birthdays, graduations, weddings, holiday gatherings, these were among the events deemed worthy of recording. Things began to change in the 80s when personal video cameras became more accessible. And today people can shoot feature length movies on their phones.

A new public art installation is putting a spotlight on those earlier days of home movies.  The project, titled A CELEBRATION, is made up of clips taken from an archive of old home movies. The piece crated by Colin Mason is the result of collaboration between the Chicago Film Archives and the digital art presenter,150 Media Stream.

A CELEBRATION by Colin Mason

A CELEBRATION will be on display in the lobby of 150 n Riverside Plaza February 26 through the 4th of July. You can find more information at 150mediastream.com

Filmmaker Colin Mason in front of A CELEBRATION