March 23, 2011
On The Death of Tom, with Glenn Ligon, Jason Moran, and Terrance McKnight

Glenn Ligon‘s latest video piece, The Death of Tom (2008), offers an abstractionist recreation of the final scene in Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 silent movie Uncle Tom’s Cabin, based on the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Ligon asked experimental jazz musician, pianist, and composer Jason Moran to create a soundtrack for this piece, playing to changes in light on the screen. The film and live, improvised performance are followed by a conversation between Ligon and Moran, moderated by Terrance McKnight.