Reading Response 6

Sorry this is late! I've be gobsmacked with work and sickness this week.

1. How does this work relate to our discussion of intermedia and expanded cinema in the 1960s?

Prune Flat stands a piece of art which cannot be repurposed and commodified; the unique performance and everything it entails is an extremely important part of the piece. Combining the film elements with live performance, Whitman creates an artwork which is similar to the intermedia/expanded cinema scene discussed in class, in that the act of participating in the 'film/performance/art' IS the true work of value on its terms.

2. Describe a passage from Prune Flat in very concrete terms, and explain how film and performance are combined to create different images and/or illusions.

The moment which struck me the most was when the clip in which two people dressed in white coats raise and lower a lightbulb is displayed, and the two live performers, dressed similarly, actually mimic the actions occuring on the screen, layered over the flat surface, giving it depth yet at the same time pointing out the sheer two-dimensionality of the film. The brightness of the actual lightbulb obliterates much of the film projected behind it, creating a visual of the grayscale backdrop of the silver screen.

3. How does Edie Sedgewick end up "stealing" the scene in Vinyl?

Edie Sedgwick was a quintessential "it" girl; she has charisma and screen presence, even when she is not the focus of the camera. During the film, she simply sits on a trunk to the right of the frame, occasionally smoking/drinking and sometimes interacting with the main action occurring in the middle of the frame (like flicking ash on someone, or taking a hit on a joint passed to her by a main player.) When all else around her vies for the camera's eye, she holds it through no real "performance"; she is simply there to be seen, as herself.

4. In what ways did the underground film begin to "crossover" into the mainstream in 1965-1966?

During that year, mainstream magazines (such as Playboy) ran articles on the phenomenon of underground cinema. The spark which caused the hubbub was Warhol's Chelsea Girls; his name was already well-known outside the "art crowd" so once released a somewhat more commercially viable film, the public became curious.

5. How was John Getz an important figure in the crossover of the underground?

Getz acted as a vehicle to spread experimental films outside of art meccas (eg NYC), starting Cinema Theatre in Los Angeles and creating a distribution centre for underground films by having them shown in theatres run by his uncle.