Applying energetic montage techniques and a strong graphic sensibility to materials freely appropriated from popular culture, San Francisco video artist Rodney Ascher creates playful and perverse pieces in a variety of genres. While flirting with the conventions of commercial production, these works consistently apply an appreciative irony towards their subjects. To be screened: the sock-puppet prison drama The True Story of Crime: X Equals X (co-made with Syd Garron); Somebody Goofed (also with Garron), a brilliant interpretation of Jack T. Chick’s apocalyptic religious comic-strip series; a new installment in his ongoing documentary The Collectors and others. Ascher will also present a personal selection of related works, including Eric Kistel’s Thank God Tommy Made It Out Alright. (S. Polta)