Associate Professor Lance Weiler Reprises ‘Where There’s Smoke’ for Summer Exhibition
Where There’s Smoke, an immersive storytelling experience created by Associate Professor Lance Weiler, is on view now through October 1, 2023 at ArtYard Gallery in New Jersey.
In Where There’s Smoke, Weiler unravels the secrets of his enigmatic father—a volunteer firefighter and amateur fire scene photographer—and two devastating fires that struck the Weiler family in the early 1980s. In the final months of his battle with colon cancer, his father invited Lance to interview him, and these conversations reignited 30 years of wondering…were those fires more than tragic accidents?
“In 1983, our van burst into flames on a family vacation,” Weiler says in the exhibition statement. “Eleven months later our house would burn to the ground. As I explore my past I find mysterious connections to these blazes and come face to face with a closet full of skeletons. Inspired by true events in my life, Where There’s Smoke details the connections between two mysterious fires and my father’s battle with cancer.”
Where There’s Smoke is an immersive storytelling experience about life, loss, and memory that reveals itself to be both deeply personal and universally resonant. It had its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and has been reimagined for ArtYard by Weiler and producer Peter English. The updated version of the exhibition features immersive theatre, interactive documentary, and emergent technology that guides participants through a deconstructed, abstracted exploration of Weiler’s father’s life, offering interactive prompts along the way.
Click here to secure your tickets for Where There’s Smoke.
Lance Weiler is a storyteller, entrepreneur and thought leader. An alumnus of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, he is recognized as a pioneer because of the way he mixes storytelling and technology. Weiler spent over 10,000 hours on film sets working his way through the ranks. He trained as a Camera Assistant and then worked extensively as a writer, director, and producer, developing TV and film properties for FOX, TNT, Starz and Endomel. Weiler has advised and consulted programs and initiatives for IBM, Twitter, Microsoft, Samsung, Chernin Entertainment, Ubisoft, Penguin Books, the U.S. State Department, CAA, Ogilvy, McCann-Erickson and others. He has also served as an advisor and mentor to educational programs and labs for organizations such as the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, PBS, Power to the Pixel, Screen Australia, Berlin Film Festival, the National Film Board of Canada and the National Endowment for the Humanities. At Columbia, Weiler is the director and founding member of the Digital Storytelling Lab which is focused on exploring new forms and functions of storytelling.