Robert Towne, Ring Paintings and Origami consists of new paintings from her current series, Beijing, and a new film titled Robert Towne.

The new paintings focus on the city of Beijing, the site for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. Morris’ next film will document the games and a city as it undergoes dynamic change. Architecture, the role of the state, and the aesthetic tension between the commercial and the political will be at the heart of the new project.

There are two sets of paintings being developed in parallel to each other in relation to Beijing: Rings and Origami.

The Rings series takes as its main reference point the city’s increasingly congested traffic arteries known as the Ring Roads. The 1st Ring Road was named at the end of the Cultural Revolution. The original names of the roads had been changed to express the strong political propaganda required to eulogize and advocate the ideology of the Cultural Revolution. When the political turmoil ended, the names had to be changed again. The ring roads may be seen as analogous to the Olympic rings and the upcoming event that is changing the face of the city.

The Origami series is based on found diagrams. It is commonly accepted that origami originated in China with the advent of paper in the 1st century AD and then spread to Japan in 600AD. Contemporary applications of origami range from the continuation of ancient traditions, such as folding 1000 paper cranes in order to realize a wish, to mathematical and engineering solutions. Origami in popular culture, particularly film, is often used to signify an impending event. It is a simple process which gives rise to complex forms.

Robert Towne, 2006, is the sixth film directed by Sarah Morris. Robert Towne is the legendary screenwriter and “script doctor” who won an Academy Award for Chinatown (1974) and has written and directed many notable films. The lens shifts from a wide view of a city to an intimate portrait. Morris’ interview topics range from Chinatown (1974) and the role of authorship to Towne’s relationship with colleagues such as Robert Evans, Warren Beatty and Pauline Kael. He speaks openly about conspiracy, paranoia, corruption, and power.