Play The Story

Related Content

• You Spin Me Round: The Ten Best Songs About Records
  October 5, 2011
• 5 Environmental Offenses You're Committing That Are Way Worse Than Throwing Away a Starbucks Coffee Cup
  November 30, 2010
• Yuki Nakamura
  January 13, 2010
• Bone Portraits
  October 28, 2009
• Slideshow Biography
  September 17, 2008

More About

• Louis Le Prince
• Matthew Buckingham
• Thomas Edison
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Ever heard of Louis Le Prince (1842-1890)? Of course not, because the French-born inventor mysteriously disappeared on a train before his motion-picture technology had a chance to become bigger than Betamax. Conspiracy theories aside (could the killer have been Thomas Edison?), things might’ve been a lot different had Le Prince’s technology preempted that of the rival Lumière brothers. Fascinated by twists of fate and the social constructs of history, New York artist Matthew Buckingham explores Le Prince’s story, and those of proto-feminist author Mary Wollstonecraft and Nazi-oppressed lesbian Charlotte Wolff, in his multimedia installation “Play the Story” (through Sept. 21). While Buckingham’s films are short, their precision is remarkable. In fact, he even returned to the very spot where Le Prince captured some footage well over a century ago. But Buckingham will be seen again. Henry Art Gallery, UW campus, 543-2280, www.henryart.org. $10. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. JOSHUA LYNCH FILM
July 14-Sept. 21, 11 a.m., 2008