Belson Seminar

CVM's Virtual Visual Music Seminars

Jordan Belson, Vortex Concerts and the Origins of Expanded Cinema

Next Seminar begins June 11, 2026

Are you interested in rare Jordan Belson films? What is the real story of the 1950s Vortex Concerts? Our popular seminar returns, exploring Belson’s film work before and after Vortex, the details and history of the Vortex Concerts and their influence, plus key moments in the origins of Expanded Cinema, 1920s-1960s. Beginning June, limited to 10 participants, CVM is enrolling now, registration details below.

Five weekly zoom sessions include illustrated talks by curator/archivist Cindy Keefer, screenings of important Belson films and rare works, plus rare materials from the CVM archive. We’ll discuss his influences and place in Visual Music history.

Topics covered include Belson’s influences, Fischinger’s 1926 five projector immersive cinema performances, early theories of expanded cinema and non-traditional multiple screen projections, Belson’s early films, and the legendary Vortex Concerts. We’ll see rare footage including a reel Belson used at Vortex V, plus related images, documents and ephemera, and details of the 5 series and origin. Keefer will discuss Vortex Presents and efforts to remount Vortex; Belson’s films directly influenced by Vortex, and his later work. The influence of Vortex on San Francisco’s psychedelic light shows, plus key 1960s work in Expanded Cinema including VanDerBeek will be included. We’ll see some of Belson’s later films, his commercial work, and learn of his interactions with other artists. Keefer will discuss her interviews with, and work with Belson on the restoration and distribution of his films including restorations of Allures, Music of the Spheres, Chakra, Light and others. She'll discuss the installation issues for Belson's films in major museums and festivals worldwide including two Biennales.

The Seminar is an excellent resource for those researching Jordan Belson and the Vortex Concerts, plus educators, independent researchers, curators, students, authors, artists and others. Not strictly for academics, the Seminar is open to those who are interested in a ‘deeper dive’ into Belson’s work and the origins of Expanded Cinema. Participant discussion and consultations regarding their own research and projects are encouraged. We’ll provide researchers with relevant information regarding resources in CVM’s archive, other institutions, and significant publications. Due to many applications, we cannot approve all who apply. Seminars are limited to approximately 10 attendees.

SEMINAR DATES AND FEES

Five sessions via Zoom, 1.5 hours each plus 30 minutes of discussion and Q & A.
2026 Dates: Thursdays at 11am PST. June 11, 18, 25, July 9, 16.

Fee: Students, $150 (includes all 5 sessions). Non-students, $200. Enrolling now
Fees are payable in advance to CVM via paypal or credit card.

For educators who wish to book a lecture or sessions for their class, please contact Center for Visual Music at cvmaccess (at) gmail.com

Please email CVM to add your name to the list for future seminar dates, for this and also our Oskar Fischinger Seminar.

TO APPLY/REGISTER

Please email cvmaccess (at) gmail.com with your name and the following information (please add SEMINAR in the subject line).
• City/Geographic location
• Are you a student (what year?), educator, independent researcher, or other. What is your university or institutional affiliation, if any.
• Are you currently working on a thesis, dissertation, book, or exhibition, if so, what is your focus?
• Have you seen many of Belson’s films? If so, where? (CVM DVDs, at screenings, or ?)
• Your preferred email address for contact and zoom links

Upon notification of acceptance, an invoice will be sent; your enrollment is confirmed upon payment. Participants agree to use Zoom with a functioning camera, and remain on camera during the sessions. Registration is for one attendee. Cancellation policies: A session cancelled due to CVM’s technical difficulties or illness will be made up by adding on an additional session to the end of the schedule above. Cancellation by a participant after registering must be done by May 20 in order to be refunded. No refunds are possible after that date. CVM reserves the right to limit attendance.

The Seminar is hosted by archivist/curator Cindy Keefer, Director of Center for Visual Music, and curator of numerous and Visual Music exhibitions and programs. She worked with Belson for over 12 years restoring and curating his films, and interviewing him for her Vortex book project. She has restored numerous abstract visual music films by artists including Belson, Fischinger, John and James Whitney, Harry Smith, Charles Dockum, Jules Engel, Jud Yalkut and others. She is the archivist/curator of CVM's Fischinger Raumlichtkunst reconstruction, which has been installed at Tate Modern, Whitney Museum, Palais de Tokyo Paris, and other museums internationally. Keefer is the producer of CVM's Jordan Belson DVD, and previous videotape releases, plus his final film, Epilogue (2005), She publishes on Belson, Vortex Concerts, Oskar Fischinger and Visual Music, and presents invited lectures on Belson, Fischinger and Visual Music at institutions including Oxford University, Trinity College Dublin, Goldsmiths College, New York University, ZKM Karlsruhe, UCLA, USC, and other universities and museums internationally. She was an invited speaker at Tate Modern’s 2009 Expanded Cinema conference where she discussed the Vortex Concerts.

Keefer curates and presents film screenings on Belson and Visual Music films at institutions including the Guggenheim Museum NY, Tate Modern London, Centre Pompidou Paris, Whitney Museum NY, LA County Museum (Los Angeles), SF MoMA (San Francisco), Len Lye Centre (New Zealand), Internationale Kurzfilmage Oberhausen, National Gallery of Art (Washington DC), British Film Institute, Tanglewood Music Festival, Harvard Film Archive, IFFR (Rotterdam) and others worldwide. She holds a degree in film from New York University, received a Peabody Award for her own film work, and taught the History of Experimental Animation at California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA. She is the former chair of the Association of Moving Image Archivists' Access Committee. Keefer is the editor of the book Oskar Fischinger: Experiments in Cinematic Abstraction (2012), and is currently working on a new book about Fischinger and Visual Music, as well as several essays about Belson and Vortex.

Relevant Links:
CVM's Belson Research site - first established with Jordan's advice and approval. Includes a bibliography with Keefer's published Vortex essays.

2 DVDs at CVM's store

CVM has loaned Belson films to museum exhibitions worldwide. Below, Seoul, Berkeley, and Graz (Austria)

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