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Last Look: The Idea of North

Closing Event for Justin Newhall: Northern Studies

Saturday, January 22 at 1pm

To close out Justin Newhall’s Northern Studies exhibition, Franklin Art Works proudly presents an afternoon of Glenn Gould-themed entertainment. Join us at 1pm for a vocal performance of Bach’s Cantata 52, followed by a screening of The Idea of North, a rarely-seen docudrama that brings to life the sound-collage of Gould’s radio documentaries in a dazzling feat of filmic ingenuity. 

The screening will be followed by a live musical performance by local string quartet Alla Corda in our Main Gallery - A unique opportunity to see Newhall’s body of work surrounded Bach’s compositions. 

This event is free and open to the public. 

About The Idea of North

When Glenn Gould created his radio documentary The Idea of North, he approached the technique of the documentary as a composer might approach the fugue or sonata movement form, weaving together spoken voices and background sounds in counterpoint to each other. Gould achieved highly inventive and original effects, envisioning the resulting sound collage as a conversation between five travelers on a train passing through desolate regions of Northern Canada. 

In The Idea of North, director Judith Pearlman recreates this concept, intertwining original film footage of the radio documentary’s five interviewees, sprawling Northern tundra, sparsely populated Manitoban villages, and Gould himself aboard a moving train. The end product is a unique, experimental style echoing Gould’s contrapuntal composition, often refered to as a forerunner of music television. The hourlong program was originally aired as a television broadcast on CBC and CBS in 1970, and has been viewed only a handful of times since. 

Special thanks to the Glenn Gould Foundation and director Judith Pearlman for making this special screening possible.