Experimental film and video art

The Hart of London by Jack Chambers is apparently now on UBU:

http://www.ubu.com/film/chambers_hart1.html

Look into Kenneth Anger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Anger

Search for "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome" on google video.

some scenes from a movie by peter liechti about the performance artist roman signer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA58UzPVfDg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxdg9xEd ... re=related

the new Jeff Keen Gazwrx box is excellent (i've only seen the 60's/70's films as yet)http://stewarthomesociety.org/blog/?p=722

Recently watched Marina Gržinic and Aina Šmid Index DVD collection which was - contrary to my expectations - not so spectacular, partly because of it's strong feminist and anti-war agenda that I really don't care about and when you add poetic choreography and contemporary theatre to the mix, then things can't really turn out well for me, but..

The DVD did include a work titled 'Post-Socialism + Retroavangard + Irwin', a mindboggling mix of philosophy and art theory through crossexamining three counterposed approaches to ideology in art in recentmost art history of Yugoslavia - through activities of Mladen Stilinović in the 1970es, Goran Đorđević in the 1980es and IRWIN in the 1990es. Through these examples from recentmost art history of Yugoslavia, the film is probing universal relations between art and ideology, presence of ideology in life, as well as questions about the ideology itself. Hence, it's a grave mistake to consider it solely of interest to people interested in socio-cultural developments in Yugoslavia or art history diehards, as well. As a means of balancing these austere and contemplative issues they raised in the film, Marina and Aina had adopted a deliberately tacky and tongue-in-cheek approach in directing it which works just great.

By the way, The Heart of London flick mentioned at the top of the page is a either a completely irrelevant shite for the visually-impaired collectors of rare, O.O.P. and generally obscure or something about it of unimaginable proportions is eluding me.

if you ever want to have your head explode, check out Ryan Trecartin... portions of I-Be-Area are floating around the internet.

By the way, The Heart of London flick mentioned at the top of the page is a either a completely irrelevant shite for the visually-impaired collectors of rare, O.O.P. and generally obscure or something about it of unimaginable proportions is eluding me.

Ouch, that's rough. You might check out a documentary on Chambers to make it more interesting. I saw it after the doc and really enjoyed it.

Re: Index films, I have to plug Gustav Deutsch whose 'Film ist' is worth checking out.

If you have interest, you can check out my train films from here in Berlin:
http://www.vimeo.com/trainsongs

These are all made the same way--composed of takes, with each one beginning as the train leaves one station and ending after arriving at the next. I don't use any effects. Only record the reflections. Thoughts are always welcome.

ugh, i hate trecartin's work. i had the fortunate circumstance of seeing it once knowing NOTHING about, assumed it was an examplar of a certain kind of boring art being made locally. little did i know he'd soon be winning major $$$ art prizes and magazine covers.

just got the gibson/recorder/block dvd in the mail (knock on wood, gibson/recoder will be doing something in philly next year) and about to watch, but it looked and sounded great in a cursory run-through on computer earlier. in researching their work, i came across a few things about "live cinema," like them, bruce mcclure, metamkine, etc.

-jesse

good article in artforum on bruce mcclure, by ed halter of light industry (requires registration):

http://artforum.com/inprint/issue=201001&id=24452

not quite sure how i missed this thread, since i love this stuff. imho paul sharits is the real gem of the experimental cinema world, and it seems there's something of a sharits resurgence afoot, which i'm happy about. i had a chance to see his shutter interface installation a little while back and it ruled:

http://artforum.com/video/id=22848&mode=large

also lots of good stuff on the fairly self-explanatory "Shoot Shoot Shoot: The London Film-Makers Co-op & British Avant-Garde Film of the 1960s & 1970s":

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shoot-British-a ... B000NNLZ9E

some scenes from a movie by peter liechti about the performance artist roman signer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA58UzPVfDg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxdg9xEd ... re=related

Thanks for this.....I nearly forgot I had the film sitting on my shelf....

Anyone have any idea if Liechti's 97 film Matha's Garden was ever subtitled into english and released on DVD?
I interviewed Liechti just after the theatrical release of the film at the time, but I've lost track of much of his work since....I can't recall the movie being discussed anywhere in any length....

also lots of good stuff on the fairly self-explanatory "Shoot Shoot Shoot: The London Film-Makers Co-op & British Avant-Garde Film of the 1960s & 1970s":

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shoot-British-a ... B000NNLZ9E

That's a great DVD, I highly recommend it.

also lots of good stuff on the fairly self-explanatory "Shoot Shoot Shoot: The London Film-Makers Co-op & British Avant-Garde Film of the 1960s & 1970s":

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shoot-British-a ... B000NNLZ9E

That's a great DVD, I highly recommend it.

I have a hard time recommending any of the British 'avant-garde.' I always find the work stiff, pseudo-theoretical and often headache-inducing--but not in a pleasurable Paul Sharits way. Gidal is one of those people whose work I avoid and I could probably add Raban to that list as well and Le Grice starts off somewhere interesting for me but I don't really care whatever it is he is after. There are a bunch of others on there I should try and check out but my hopes are low.

On another note re: Index films. The Kurt Kren discs are not to be missed and the third one of his, I think #20 has a great film about him later in his life. I am not so much into his films about the Viennese Actionists--but which are fantastic, but it is probably a great place to start and is probably Index #1.

I also heard Criterion is releasing another Brakhage double disc set and looking forward to that. Anyone see the track listing?

I also heard Criterion is releasing another Brakhage double disc set and looking forward to that.

they're also releasing the two sets combined on Blu-Ray, which should coincide nicely with my finally getting a Blu-Ray player in the next few months, quite excited about that.

Not a complete listing of the new Brakhage set but it looks to be 3 discs and has his epic 23rd Psalm Branch:

http://www.criterion.com/films/23953

My favorite experimental director is Shuji Terayama. Also see Toshio Matsumoto. Brakhage is good -- Dog Star Man is one of my favorite movies of all time.

As for current people... Giuseppe Andrews, Damon Packard (REflections of Evil = best movie of the 00's), Ryan Trecartin. Jon Jost and Godard's newer stuff are actually extremely experimental works, though they're presented with a somewhat straightforward narrative framework. Love em.

I'm making no budget experimental films myself.. have a look... gurantee you'll dig it... http://directoradamcooley.angelfire.com

just released a dvd.. also submitted my stuff to pathfinder home entertainment and electronics art intermix so hopefully will have some small measure of success, though won't delude myself into thinking I'll ever be rich or anything.

Thanks

I recently watched a Fluxus retrospectiv video tape, with many works of Yoko Ono and Nam-June Paik among many others artists. Some movies hurted my eyes real bad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=emGbV-X ... re=related

excellent post by jpeatt regarding expanded cinema up there...

can't recommend tscherkassky enough, of course. sharits as well, here is a video of t.o.u.c.h.i.n.g. (1969):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihTynFLMy2Y

really quite the experience seen at full scale/volume.

in terms of more contemporary work, kerry tribe has a newer work in the whitney biennial titled "h.m." which is quite brilliant:

Kerry Tribe’s film and video installations investigate the relationships among memory, subjectivity, and representation. The work on view here utilizes a documentary format to recount the case study of “H.M.,” a patient who underwent experimental surgery in the 1950s as a cure for epilepsy. After the treatment, which involved the removal of part of his brain, H.M. suffered from severe amnesia, with his short-term memory restricted to events of the prior twenty seconds.

also lots of good stuff on the fairly self-explanatory "Shoot Shoot Shoot: The London Film-Makers Co-op & British Avant-Garde Film of the 1960s & 1970s":

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shoot-British-a ... B000NNLZ9E

That's a great DVD, I highly recommend it.

I have a hard time recommending any of the British 'avant-garde.' I always find the work stiff, pseudo-theoretical and often headache-inducing--but not in a pleasurable Paul Sharits way. Gidal is one of those people whose work I avoid and I could probably add Raban to that list as well and Le Grice starts off somewhere interesting for me but I don't really care whatever it is he is after. There are a bunch of others on there I should try and check out but my hopes are low.

On another note re: Index films. The Kurt Kren discs are not to be missed and the third one of his, I think #20 has a great film about him later in his life. I am not so much into his films about the Viennese Actionists--but which are fantastic, but it is probably a great place to start and is probably Index #1.

I also heard Criterion is releasing another Brakhage double disc set and looking forward to that. Anyone see the track listing?

Yeah, Peter Gidal sucks, I'll give you that. But you really don't like films like Little Dog For Roger (Le Grice) or Guy Sherwin's films?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXD7UMlAixg
(Guy Sherwin, Man With A Mirror)

I totally agree about Kurt Kren, the Structuralist Films DVD is ESSENTIAL, the Actionist one, not so much.

Yeah, Peter Gidal sucks, I'll give you that. But you really don't like films like Little Dog For Roger (Le Grice) or Guy Sherwin's films?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXD7UMlAixg
(Guy Sherwin, Man With A Mirror)

I totally agree about Kurt Kren, the Structuralist Films DVD is ESSENTIAL, the Actionist one, not so much.

Just got back from vacation so sorry for the delay in responding.

I also found the actionist works not so interesting anymore. At one time they seemed special but now only in a historical way. That structuralist dvd really surprised me. I always thought I loved Kren but after that DVD, I realized how little I knew of his work. If only I could see a screening in the theaters on film of those pieces. Anyone who has interest in avant-garde films could easily pair Brakhage's Criterion DVD with that one and have a good start into the genre.

With Le Grice, it is like I said. I am not one to defend Brakhage for every work he made but the guy was truly special in a way that Le Grice is not. Maybe Brakhage got a little tired and I can live without the handpainted works but the guy was in love with the medium. I feel like Le Grice is like many film students that he just wants to be part of the tradition and medium but it isn't natural for him. I prefer Ken Jacobs dissecting early cinema. I know the piece you mentioned but it has been a while since I saw it. Anyone who thinks that you can use a home movie and not seem personal is repressing something. I think he recanted on that now but it just makes me uncomfortable to see work by people who try too hard to go against someone or a 'type' of filmmaking. But, if there was a screening of his works in town, I would definitely go. Not liking doesn't mean not interested and I have no problem coming around one day and changing my opinion. That is always the problem with film works, I see it at one stage and it is so difficult to see works screened again that it is hard to reconsider them properly.

I never delved deep into Sherwin--probably from my grudge, in general. But that clip has me itching to see and read more. Thanks for that. As someone who works with light and reflections, I am really curious. Just one thing on structural cinema that is always hard for me to take, I don't mind the idea behind the work but I just want the artist to show some sort of relationship to the medium or idea being looked at. It sounds kinda cheesy but I like to feel some sort of passion.

With Le Grice, it is like I said. I am not one to defend Brakhage for every work he made but the guy was truly special in a way that Le Grice is not. Maybe Brakhage got a little tired and I can live without the handpainted works but the guy was in love with the medium. I feel like Le Grice is like many film students that he just wants to be part of the tradition and medium but it isn't natural for him. I prefer Ken Jacobs dissecting early cinema. I know the piece you mentioned but it has been a while since I saw it. Anyone who thinks that you can use a home movie and not seem personal is repressing something. I think he recanted on that now but it just makes me uncomfortable to see work by people who try too hard to go against someone or a 'type' of filmmaking. But, if there was a screening of his works in town, I would definitely go. Not liking doesn't mean not interested and I have no problem coming around one day and changing my opinion. That is always the problem with film works, I see it at one stage and it is so difficult to see works screened again that it is hard to reconsider them properly.

The last part of what you say here is really very true, and a bit of a pain when dealing with work in this area.

I'm not hugely familiar with Jacobs' actual work, although i have read/ heard about some of it. There's an exhibition on here at the moment I'm yet to get to.

With Le Grice, there is a very 'conscious' element (for lack of a better word) about the way he produces work - perhaps rigorous is better. I can see what you're getting at, but don't necessarily think the two elements of rigour and passion are exclusive. To stay on Little Dog For Roger, the main sense I get from it is of someone using film as an aid to explore memory in various ways - and it shows a deep love for the medium to me. Having said that, works like the Castle series of multiscreen and expanded films, are minimalist, harsh and ruthlessly brutal, focussing around a tight mix of military & stock advertisment footage - these show a pretty extreme distaste for many of the uses and potentialities of film.
Perhaps Le Grice has a less unconditional love for the medium than Brakhage.