Adam Green Explains Harry Smith + HEAVEN & EARTH MAGIC (1962)
Schedule
Thu May 21 2026 at 07:30 pm to 10:00 pm
UTC-07:00Location
Philosophical Research Society | Los Angeles, CA
About this Event
This event is part of the series THE COSMIC COLLAGE OF HARRY SMITH (April 25-May 31), co-presented by The Philosophical Research and Harry Smith Archives. See below for series description!
The Philosophical Research Society’s 7th House, The Harry Smith Archives, and Los Angeles Filmforum are proud to present a special event in our ongoing THE COSMIC COLLAGE OF HARRY SMITH series with a live presentation by musician, artist, and filmmaker Adam Green, followed by a screening of HEAVEN & EARTH MAGIC (1957-1962), Smith’s enduring and most widely recognized experimental classic.
Drawing from Harry Smith’s vast and enigmatic body of work, Green will deliver a richly illustrated talk, drawing on a curated array of slides and video materials, exploring the esoteric foundations of Smith’s creative practice — tracing the influence of Kabbalah, alchemy, hermetic philosophy, and symbolic systems that informed his films, drawings, and archival projects. Moving across Smith’s work as a unified field of inquiry, the presentation will consider how his deeply syncretic approach to image-making functioned as a kind of alchemical process: one that sought transformation not only of materials, but of perception itself. In dialogue with the legacy of Manly P. Hall and the philosophical foundations of the Philosophical Research Society, Green will also reflect on what Smith’s visionary methodology offers to artists today, including how he has drawn from these ideas within his own work.
Following an audience Q&A, Green will introduce the evening’s finale: a screening of HEAVEN & EARTH MAGIC, a dense, hand-animated cosmology constructed from cut-out images, occult diagrams, and fragments of found material, assembled into a kind of hermetic narrative without fixed meaning or stable interpretation. Developed over many years from an encyclopedic range of sources, the film unfolds through a series of ritualistic transformations, surreal tableaux, and symbolic operations, moving fluidly between the sacred and the absurd, the comic and the cosmic. At once playful and profoundly esoteric, HEAVEN & EARTH MAGIC discards narrative coherence in favor of an associative, initiatory experience — one that invites viewers not to decode its symbols, but to move through them.
HEAVEN AND EARTH MAGIC
Dir. Harry Smith, 1957-1962, 66 mins, USA, Unrated, Digital.
Tickets: $20 (All Screenings Are In Person Only)
Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.
Photo by Devendra Banhart
ADAM GREEN
Adam Green is an artistic polymath — a songwriter, filmmaker, visual artist, and poet whose work blends fleshy humor, heartbreak, and metaphysical surrealism into a genre all his own. As co-founder of the antifolk band The Moldy Peaches, he helped define a generation of raw, emotionally candid music that continues to resonate globally. Since then, Green has released twelve solo albums, and In 2023 received a tribute album Moping In Style — which brought together the voices of Father John Misty, The Libertines, Frankie Cosmos, Devendra Banhart, Regina Spektor, and Sean Ono Lennon covering Green’s songs — a testament to his influence across musical worlds.
Green’s creative reach extends far beyond songwriting. His paintings and sculptures have been exhibited in galleries across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including a landmark show at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel. He has directed two full-length movies — The Wrong Ferarri (2010), the first feature film shot entirely on an iPhone, and Adam Green's Aladdin (2016), the hand-built fantasy epic which Buzzfeed called “the trippiest movie ever made.” His recent work explores the interconnected mythology of his “Houseface” universe through poetry books and graphic novels, developing a distinct narrative world that spans disciplines and defies boundaries.
Adam's portrait in event banner photo credit: Michael Leviton
Los Angeles Filmforum is the city’s longest-running organization dedicated to weekly screenings of experimental film, documentaries, video art, and experimental animation. In 2025 they celebrated their 50th year. www.lafilmforum.org
THE COSMIC COLLAGE OF HARRY SMITH – April 25 – May 31 – co-presented by The Philosophical Research Institute and Harry Smith Archives
In celebration of what would have been his 103rd solar return, The Philosophical Research Society is proud to present THE COSMIC COLLAGE OF HARRY SMITH, a series dedicated to the boundless, unruly imagination of Harry Everett Smith—artist, filmmaker, folklorist, collector, and self-described alchemist of culture—co-presented and co-curated by the Harry Smith Archive, and presented in collaboration with 7th House, Los Angeles Filmforum, The American Museum of Paramusicology, The Getty Research Institute, Zebulon, and 2220 Arts + Archives.
A singular figure of the American avant-garde, Smith moved fluidly between disciplines and identities, assembling a body of work that resists containment. From his hand-painted and cut-out animation films—whose vivid abstractions and visionary logic would prove foundational to the development of psychedelic art—to his groundbreaking Anthology of American Folk Music—a meticulously curated, deeply idiosyncratic collection of early American recordings that would go on to inspire the folk revival of the 1960s and shape generations of musicians beyond—from ethnographic recordings to vast personal archives of string figures, paper airplanes, and occult diagrams, Smith approached the world as something to be gathered, transformed, and re-enchanted. His practice was not simply interdisciplinary—it was cosmological.
Deeply engaged with esoteric traditions, mysticism, and systems of hidden knowledge, Smith understood art-making as a form of spiritual inquiry. Alchemical thought, Kabbalah, and ritual practice were not peripheral interests but central frameworks through which he interpreted sound, image, and pattern. Across his work, correspondences emerge: between music and geometry, folklore and magic, the everyday and the divine.
Bringing together film screenings, an art exhibit, live musical performances, panel discussions, artist presentations, an online class, and a special visit to the Getty Research Institute’s Harry Smith collection, this series traces Smith’s expansive creative universe, reflecting both the breadth of his output and the coherence of his vision. Join us as we investigate and celebrate Smith’s remarkable life and works, where disciplines dissolve, curation becomes creation, and art serves as a bridge between the material and the unseen.
PROGRAM:
4/25 — Harry Smith’s Alchemical Abstractions + live performance by Devendra Banhart (Opening Night) – featuring EARLY ABSTRACTIONS (1939–56) screening — co-presented by 7th House & Los Angeles Filmforum
(Exhibition Opening) in The Philosophical Research Society's Hansell Gallery
(1964).
5/21 — Adam Green Explains Harry Smith + HEAVEN & EARTH MAGIC (1957) screening — Adam Green in person — co-presented by 7th House & Los Angeles Filmforum
presented by Matt Marble of The American Museum of Paramusicology (Online Presentation)
at the Getty Research Institute
at Zebulon
(1980) screening at 2220 Arts + Archives — co-presented by 7th House, Los Angeles Filmforum, and 2220 Arts
ADVISORY DISCLAIMER
With some exception, The Philosophical Research Society’s 7th House Screenings does not typically provide advisory warnings about potentially upsetting content or subject matter, as sensitivities are particular to each viewer. Please be sure to read event listings, research on the web, or visit Common Sense Media, IMDb, and DoesTheDogDie.com for thorough info on content and age-appropriateness. If you have any specific content advisory questions, please email [email protected].
CONTENT DISCLAIMER
The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed within exhibited works are solely those of their creators and may not represent those of the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), its affiliates, or any individuals associated with PRS. Screenings are intended for educational and entertainment purposes.
ACCESSIBILITY
PRS wants all guests to be able to enjoy our events safely and comfortably. If you require any accessibility accommodation, please reach out to [email protected] before showtime and we will be happy to assist you.
REFUND POLICIES
All sales are final. There are no refunds for PRS events , except in the event of a medical emergency, including but not limited to a positive COVID-19 test. Ticket exchanges may be granted on a case by case basis, pending circumstances.
In the event that PRS is forced to cancel an event entirely, tickets will be refunded or vouchers offered for a rescheduled event.
PARKING
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Where is it happening?
Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Boulevard, Los Angeles, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 23.18
