The Witches Cradle
Part 1
Part 2
Meshes of the Afternoon
A Study in Choreography for Camera
http://www.ubu.com/film/deren_study-in-choreography.html
Ritual in Transfigured Time
The Private Life of a Cat
Meditation on Violence
Medusa
Could not find.
Ensemble for Somnambulists
The Very Eye of Night
Season of Strangers
Could not find.
Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Collage/Decollage
"The thesis of this paper is that video, as a cultural discourse, has been formed by two issues: (1) its opposition to the dominant institution of commercial television; (2) the intertextual art practices of an international constellation of artists during the late 1950s and early 1960s." - from the reading.
I was surprised while reading this that Ant Farm was never mentioned. I suppose it is because Ant Farm was most active during the 1970s while this article was mainly about the 50s and 60s. I am still surprised, however, that they were not mentioned. Particulary the film, 'Media Burn'.
I see 'Media Burn' as a decollage because Ant Farm took a large number of televisions and mounted them in a large parking lot (if that is really what that area is). They covered the televisions to make it appear as a stage for the fake President Kennedy to come make his speech. After the speech was done, it was revealed that the stage is a stack of televisions which will be destroyed by a reconstructed 1959 El Dorado Cadillac convertible. The televisions are set aflame, the Cadillac is driven through the stack, then afterwards when the fire is put out the audience is allowed to go over and destroy whatever is left.
Media Burn: http://www.ubu.com/film/ant_farm_media.html
I was surprised while reading this that Ant Farm was never mentioned. I suppose it is because Ant Farm was most active during the 1970s while this article was mainly about the 50s and 60s. I am still surprised, however, that they were not mentioned. Particulary the film, 'Media Burn'.
I see 'Media Burn' as a decollage because Ant Farm took a large number of televisions and mounted them in a large parking lot (if that is really what that area is). They covered the televisions to make it appear as a stage for the fake President Kennedy to come make his speech. After the speech was done, it was revealed that the stage is a stack of televisions which will be destroyed by a reconstructed 1959 El Dorado Cadillac convertible. The televisions are set aflame, the Cadillac is driven through the stack, then afterwards when the fire is put out the audience is allowed to go over and destroy whatever is left.
Media Burn: http://www.ubu.com/film/ant_farm_media.html
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Bordwell's History of Experimental Film
This seemed to me more of an explanation and study of experimental film rather than telling the history. Granted explanations and studies are an important part of history and Bordwell did mention each film in chronological order.
Anyway, moving on, I found this reading to be quite interesting. Though it only mentioned Maya Deren briefly, what little Bordwell did say about her work helped me a lot with interpreting her work. In fact I greatly enjoyed it that he would take a film, give a brief history, and then try to interpret what different parts of the film meant. What the different images could mean, what the different camera angles mean, what the different shots and scene changes mean. It was all very fascination.
When he mentioned the films we have watched in class, or watched on our own, I found those to be the most interesting. Mainly because I have already seen the movie it made it easier to understand the interpretations. It is difficult to imagine why certain objects and scene changes mean something when one has not actually seen the film. There were many interpretations that I had already concluded from watching the films myself, but there were many more that I did not ever think of. When Bordwell would mention an interpretation that I had not thought of before, he explained it in a way that made perfect sense. It was wonderful, really, to have light shone on the subject. One example being his conclusion of 'Ballet Mecanique' when the audience is taken back to the woman who at the beginning was in a swing:
"Seen in another context, her gestures might seem ordinary to us. But by now the film has trained us sufficiently for us to make the connection between this shot and what has preceded it. out expectations have been so strongly geared to seeing rhythmic, mechanical movements that we will probably see her smiles and head gestures as UNnatural, like other motifs we have seen in the film."
Anyway, moving on, I found this reading to be quite interesting. Though it only mentioned Maya Deren briefly, what little Bordwell did say about her work helped me a lot with interpreting her work. In fact I greatly enjoyed it that he would take a film, give a brief history, and then try to interpret what different parts of the film meant. What the different images could mean, what the different camera angles mean, what the different shots and scene changes mean. It was all very fascination.
When he mentioned the films we have watched in class, or watched on our own, I found those to be the most interesting. Mainly because I have already seen the movie it made it easier to understand the interpretations. It is difficult to imagine why certain objects and scene changes mean something when one has not actually seen the film. There were many interpretations that I had already concluded from watching the films myself, but there were many more that I did not ever think of. When Bordwell would mention an interpretation that I had not thought of before, he explained it in a way that made perfect sense. It was wonderful, really, to have light shone on the subject. One example being his conclusion of 'Ballet Mecanique' when the audience is taken back to the woman who at the beginning was in a swing:
"Seen in another context, her gestures might seem ordinary to us. But by now the film has trained us sufficiently for us to make the connection between this shot and what has preceded it. out expectations have been so strongly geared to seeing rhythmic, mechanical movements that we will probably see her smiles and head gestures as UNnatural, like other motifs we have seen in the film."
Friday, October 7, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Early Video Art Lecture...
Lanesville TV
Top Value Televison - Four More Years
Richard Serra's "Television Delivers People"
Richard Serra's "Boomerang"
Peter Campus' "Three Transitions"
Ant Farm's "Media Burn"
Top Value Televison - Four More Years
Richard Serra's "Television Delivers People"
Richard Serra's "Boomerang"
Peter Campus' "Three Transitions"
Peter Campus - Three Transitions from Huge Galeria on Vimeo.
Ant Farm's "Media Burn"
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)