Spontaneous and free-form, The Rays documents the philosophical musings of Raindance members Michael Shamberg, Paul Ryan and Frank Gillette on the beach at Point Reyes, California. Passing the camera around "like a joint," they theorize on the nature of television and alternative communications systems. The title refers both to Point Reyes and to the broadcast TV signals of a nearby transmitter that caused "rays" to distort the picture.

Paul Ryan