1. What has changed in the gallery art world that allows Barney to describe his work as “sculpture”? In other words, how has the definition of sculpture changed since the 1960s, and why?
The definition of "sculpture" in the gallery art world has loosened since the 1960s and before, when it was generally relegated to describing statues and the like. As the art world evolved, so did the category of sculpture, including readymades and architecture, as well as media-related installations and performance pieces, which brings in the question of the "art object". Minimalist sculpture has drawn the emphasis of sculpture away from an art object to more performance/activity-based art practices.
2. Tricky but important question: Why was minimalist sculpture seen as a reaction against the “modernist hymns to the purity and specificity of aesthetic experience.” Hint: Do not confuse this with our discussion of structural / minimal film as modernist; they are essentially saying that minimalist sculpture is post-modernist.
Without having much background knowledge in postmodern gallery art, I'll try my best...Minimalist sculpture in the 60s made the viewer of this simplified art object see the arbitrariness of the "object" both physical and its intrinsic "meaning"; the viewing public interact with the art, and this process creates the meaning of the art as experience, not so much "object". Is this close enough? I read the passage carefully and think I understand, but it seems hard to tease out the meaning in simple terms.
3. Describe the role of the body in the works of Vito Acconci and Chris Burden.
Acconci and Burden both place the body in the centre of their performance art. Their works are visceral, foregrounding the physical body as object/sculpture as well as mediator of the performance. Their art is often endurance based, portraying their bodies as passive objects (as in Bed Piece, where Burden lay in a bed in the gallery for 22 days on end.)
4. What do the authors mean when they say that Cremaster’s “genealogy in endurance works has a dual articulation”? What are the two influences?
This 'dual articulation' is the endurance of physicality and the endurance of temporality; the body is pushed to its physical limits in the performance art of Acconci and Burden, who are one influence on Barney, and the other is the nature of enduring time in avant-garde film, such as Michael Snow and Warhol.
5. In the opinion of the authors, what are the key differences between performance art of the1960s/1970s and Barney’s Cremaster cycle?
Performance art of the 60s/70s was very aware of the presentation of the body as object, and its articulation in the performance as a temporal moment of experience, or "performance for its own sake". In contrast, the Cremaster cycle is highly stylised, glamourising the body in a pleasing way to the viewer.
1. What are the so-called two worlds of film art that Walley intends to describe in this article? What is the basic difference between the two?
The first world of filmic art is the usual avant-garde/experimental filmmaking which is what we have been studying for the most part in this class and other film studies classes. The other is the realm of "artist's film/video" designed specifically for gallery exhibition, not theatrical exhibition.
3. What are some of the key differences between the experimental and gallery art worlds in terms of production and distribution?
The experimental film mode of practice is generally referred to as 'artisanal', a personal craft of a single individual artist, as in the case of Brakhage/Anger/Deren/etc. Usually the distribution is done through rentals of prints, played in universities and independent art theatres. In the world of gallery film, the production is collaborative, but described in an auteurist way (ie the Cremaster films are Matthew Barney's, like in the art cinema world of Bergman, Antonioni, etc.). The money is generally backed from gallery sponsorship and the sale of art objects. Distribution is very different from avant-garde distribution, in which prints are sold in very limited editions, and one can only see the works in gallery exhibitions if one doesn't own a print.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Reading Response Eight
1. Name at least three similarities between the punk music scene and
the punk/no-wave filmmaking scene, in terms of technology, style and
community.
The no wave film scene used Super 8 cameras, which were generally
considered by pros to be amateur/only fit for home videos. Super 8 was
cheap (combining audio & video recording which eliminated need for
sound recording equipment and post-production), and contributed to the
grainy aesthetic of the films produced in the scene. The filmmakers
didn't have training, going about it in a quick/loose/inventive way,
with no rules imposed. Influenced by the Nouvelle Vague movement in
France, these filmmakers captured their environment on their own terms
in their films. All those involved (the majority also working in the no
wave music scene at the same time) contributed in various roles in each
other's work, creating the films together in a tight-knit community.
2. In what ways was punk/no wave filmmaking a reaction to the
avant-garde film institutionalisation of the 1970s?
The no wave filmmakers avoided structure and intentional artiness in
their work, instead aiming for a visceral, raw scene informed by the
music they were also involved in.
3. Which filmmakers are cited as influences on Amos Poe, Eric Mitchell,
and Vivienne Dick (to the point that they "re-worked" earlier films)?
Jean-Luc Godard (especially Breathless, which Unmade Beds is a loose
remake of); Andy Warhol was a big influence (Vinyl is the source of
Kidnapped, which is also a minimal film taking place in a convined
area; Dick's film Gueriliere Talks has a similar structure to his
Screen Tests).
4. What were the exhibition venues for punk/no wave films such as those
by Beth B. and Scott B., and how did the venues affect film content and
style?
Max's Kansas City, a rock club in NYC, was the major venue to show the
no wave films. The B's took advantage of the setting, making The
Offenders a serial film to be shown in instalments at the club,
creating each piece the week it was to be shown (using the money
garnered from the previous showing to finance it). Black Box used the
club's acoustics and sound system to create a closed-in wall-of-sound
environment, adding poignancy to the political message of their film.
5. What does Zryd mean by "double voicing" and what does Baldwin mean
by "Fake right, go left"?
"Double voicing" is implied as the ironic technique Baldwin uses with
the voice-over in Tribulation 99; the paranoid voice which espouts one
obvious meaning actually veils the implicit, ironic meaning underneath.
Baldwin's quote "fake right, go left" means the idea behind the work:
he uses this rabidly right-wing voice-over which is so overt in its
portrayal as to be ironic, actually voicing the leftist ideas which are
critiquing the right-wing policies in this film. A modern, easily
understandable pop example would be Stephen Colbert's Colbert Report.
the punk/no-wave filmmaking scene, in terms of technology, style and
community.
The no wave film scene used Super 8 cameras, which were generally
considered by pros to be amateur/only fit for home videos. Super 8 was
cheap (combining audio & video recording which eliminated need for
sound recording equipment and post-production), and contributed to the
grainy aesthetic of the films produced in the scene. The filmmakers
didn't have training, going about it in a quick/loose/inventive way,
with no rules imposed. Influenced by the Nouvelle Vague movement in
France, these filmmakers captured their environment on their own terms
in their films. All those involved (the majority also working in the no
wave music scene at the same time) contributed in various roles in each
other's work, creating the films together in a tight-knit community.
2. In what ways was punk/no wave filmmaking a reaction to the
avant-garde film institutionalisation of the 1970s?
The no wave filmmakers avoided structure and intentional artiness in
their work, instead aiming for a visceral, raw scene informed by the
music they were also involved in.
3. Which filmmakers are cited as influences on Amos Poe, Eric Mitchell,
and Vivienne Dick (to the point that they "re-worked" earlier films)?
Jean-Luc Godard (especially Breathless, which Unmade Beds is a loose
remake of); Andy Warhol was a big influence (Vinyl is the source of
Kidnapped, which is also a minimal film taking place in a convined
area; Dick's film Gueriliere Talks has a similar structure to his
Screen Tests).
4. What were the exhibition venues for punk/no wave films such as those
by Beth B. and Scott B., and how did the venues affect film content and
style?
Max's Kansas City, a rock club in NYC, was the major venue to show the
no wave films. The B's took advantage of the setting, making The
Offenders a serial film to be shown in instalments at the club,
creating each piece the week it was to be shown (using the money
garnered from the previous showing to finance it). Black Box used the
club's acoustics and sound system to create a closed-in wall-of-sound
environment, adding poignancy to the political message of their film.
5. What does Zryd mean by "double voicing" and what does Baldwin mean
by "Fake right, go left"?
"Double voicing" is implied as the ironic technique Baldwin uses with
the voice-over in Tribulation 99; the paranoid voice which espouts one
obvious meaning actually veils the implicit, ironic meaning underneath.
Baldwin's quote "fake right, go left" means the idea behind the work:
he uses this rabidly right-wing voice-over which is so overt in its
portrayal as to be ironic, actually voicing the leftist ideas which are
critiquing the right-wing policies in this film. A modern, easily
understandable pop example would be Stephen Colbert's Colbert Report.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Reading Response 7
4. The trickiest part of Sitney’s chapter is to understand the similarities and differences between Warhol and the structural filmmakers. He argues that Warhol in a sense is anti-Romantic and stands in opposition to the visionary tradition represented by psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical films. But for Sitney’s central argument to make sense, he needs to place structural film within the tradition of psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical films. Trace the steps in this argument by following the following questions:
a. Why does Sitney call Warhol anti-Romantic?
Warhol created films (and other works of art) which Warhol (and by proxy Sitney) calls "anti-Romantic" because his films ignore the both the techniques and the underlying meaning utilised by the lyrical/Expressionistic filmmakers (like Brakhage). Instead of being the driving force behind the camera and the films' meaning, Warhol simply turned the camera on and let things occur, something unthinkable to the likes of Brakhage, who placed himself in his art as much as possible. Warhol let the films take shape without him, leaving in mistakes (out of focus bits, etc.) and his films hold no meaning beyond what he creates: mundane activities rendered as art, because anything can be art to Andy.
b. Why does Sitney argue that spiritually the distance between Warhol and structural filmmakers such as Michael Snow or Ernie Gehr cannot be reconciled?
Warhol utilised the techniques found in later structural films (particularly the fixed camera) for their own ends: because it was unheard of in the film circles he wasn't really a part of (the Brakhage school, basically) and eventually he left this technique behind after perfecting it in Empire. The structural filmmakers utilise these same techniques for a deeper meaning, to focus on a portion of space, usually seen in a mystical or spiritual light.
c. What is meant by the phrase “conscious ontology of the viewing experience”? How does this relate to Warhol’s films? How does this relate to structural films?
“Conscious ontology of the viewing experience” means becoming aware of the act or experience of viewing, in this case usually because of duration. Warhol used this awareness in his films due to their sheer length [well over the usual viewing time, up to eight hours] and the mundaneness of the nature of what is being filmed. The structural films also use this in their length, but generally many of these filmmakers insert markers of duration, so the audience also knows what point the films are at (though they may not know exactly when it will end, it gives an idea.)
d. Why does Sitney argue that structural film is related to the psychodrama/mythopoeic/lyrical tradition, and in fact responds to Warhol’s attack on that tradition by using Warhol’s own tactics?
Structural film has a meaning behind its patterns, which is asserted by the filmmaker, linking this movement to the previously discussed ones. Though it has a different agenda and form, these films also show the filmmakers' personal vision (Sitney's point of departure for his book) and as Warhol was responding/reacting to this filmmaking tradition, the very act of doing so inserts him into this tradition of avant-garde filmmaking.
Note to self: get around to doing the rest to study over spring break!Wednesday, February 25, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Xmas on Earth/Chelsea Girls Response
Barbara Rubin's Christmas on Earth was quite beautiful. From the article description, I was kind of wary--I expected it to be very very amateur porno with artsy accoutrements slapped over it. But instead, my mind was boggled by the whole experience of it. The interactive aspect was the most thrilling part; knowing that OUR showing of it will never be the exact same as other showings, made it a unique film-watching experience. The painted woman who stares out of the frame throughout the first several minutes was haunting, especially with the overlay of differently coloured filters. Creating a film that is so candid yet so intriguingly composed, Rubin left her mark on film history.
Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls is frankly not a film I could ever see myself watching all the way through [this coming from someone that LOVES Satantango!] I think I just feel slightly disgusted or annoyed by how histrionic most of the Factory crowd is, and the fact that they aren't particularly riveting people [besides Pope Ondine] makes such a long run-time a feat, to me. The first scene with the boy's stripping created a kind of awkward tension with the lack of great lighting and muffled sound, and the fact that he is trying to be sexy and frankly not pulling it off. The second scene was much more involving, as the dear Pope Ondine was a riot for the majority of his episode, even when he was flipping out and getting violent. Though I would listen intently to him, my visual attention was drawn to Nico on the left, simply because of the beauty of the shot of her. The light and colour and masks creating shadows over her face was too pretty to look away from.
Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls is frankly not a film I could ever see myself watching all the way through [this coming from someone that LOVES Satantango!] I think I just feel slightly disgusted or annoyed by how histrionic most of the Factory crowd is, and the fact that they aren't particularly riveting people [besides Pope Ondine] makes such a long run-time a feat, to me. The first scene with the boy's stripping created a kind of awkward tension with the lack of great lighting and muffled sound, and the fact that he is trying to be sexy and frankly not pulling it off. The second scene was much more involving, as the dear Pope Ondine was a riot for the majority of his episode, even when he was flipping out and getting violent. Though I would listen intently to him, my visual attention was drawn to Nico on the left, simply because of the beauty of the shot of her. The light and colour and masks creating shadows over her face was too pretty to look away from.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Reading Response #5
1. Chapter 4: What are some of the reasons suggested for Smith’s obsession with Maria Montez? What are some of your responses to the clips from the Montez films (especially Cobra Woman)?
The general consensus of those interviewed seems to be that Jack Smith was enamoured by Maria Montez’s presence; she was a diva, an exaggerated form of femininity lavished onscreen, akin to the drag queens Smith would film. In the clips shown, I find Maria Montez’s performance to be quite campy and stilted, and the Cobra Woman costume to be the height of outlandish—right up Jack Smith’s alley.
2. Chapter 5: What were some attributes of the New York art community in the 1960s, and what was the relationship between the economics of the time and the materials that Smith incorporated into his work and films? [How could Smith survive and make art if he was so poor in the city?]
According to those interviewed who were a part of the 1960s New York art community, it was a close-knit group, where everybody knew everyone else. In spite of the notoriously high prices of today’s NYC, parts of Manhattan in the 1960s were terribly affordable [apartments in Tribeca and the Village for only $20-$40 a MONTH!] Many props and accoutrements utilized in Jack Smith’s films could be found in department store dumpsters, free for the taking, and Jack Smith loved trash.
3. Chapter 6: What problems emerged after the obscenity charges against Flaming Creatures in the relationship between Jack Smith and Jonas Mekas? What metaphor emerged from the conflict between Smith and Mekas?
Jonas Mekas championed the cause against censorship following the charges, making Flaming Creatures a poster-child-film[?] to advance his career as the most famous underground film distributor in the US. Jack Smith saw Mekas as an opportunist who didn’t give credit [or monetary royalties] to the filmmakers whose films he screened. Smith also felt Mekas’s cause sucked all the life and beauty from his film. Ultimately, Mekas was called a “lobster” by Smith, symbolizing a scavenger who takes what he needs to profit off a situation.
5. Chapter 8: What are some arguments about the relationship between Jack Smith’s artistic practice and Andy Warhol’s artistic practice?
Warhol himself says that Jack Smith is “the only person I would ever copy,” and this is evident in the structure of Warhol’s Factory, Screen Tests, and his ‘borrowing’ of Smith’s regular actors, including Mario Montez. Jack Smith appeared in several of Warhol’s films, including Camp, as well. Robert Heide describes Warhol as detached and separate from his art, while Jack Smith was always in the midst of what he created. Others say Warhol was creating something ‘hip’ to be consumed, while Smith really didn’t care if anyone outside himself loved his films—he was building his dream world.
6. Chapter 9 & 10: In what ways did Jack Smith become “uncommercial film personified”? What is meant by the slogan “no more masterpieces” and how did Smith resist commodification (or the production of art products)?
Jack Smith decided to never truly ‘finish’ a film, to protect it from being banned [like Flaming Creatures was.] He traveled with prints of his films at showings, and would edit the films live as well as choose the records to play at that moment, subject to change upon his whim. Jack Smith wanted to transform life into art, instead of creating an ‘artistic commodity’ to be consumed by the spectators. A ‘masterpiece’ in this light is unappealing: it connotes an entirely finished product, something definitive and in many cases easily mass-reproduced. He was strongly anti-capitalism and this showed through in his life and work. In the 70s, he held free performance art shows in his loft, and even if no one showed up, Smith would perform as to a packed house. In this case, here was no product or concrete item to be declared “this is a work of art” but instead his life and its ethereality became his art.
7. Name at least three important friends/relationships Barbara Rubin had in the world of art and music in the early 1960s.
Barbara Rubin was friends with Beat poet Allen Ginsberg (she even wished to marry him for a time), worked closely with Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, particularly in the Up-Tight series, and she was Jonas Mekas’s close assistant at the Film-Maker’s Co-Op.
8. Briefly describe Rubin’s production and exhibition practices for Christmas on Earth. Why does Belasco argue that Christmas on Earth cannot be reproduced electronically or in other forms?
Rubin shot Christmas On Earth over a single weekend on a 16mm Bolex camera borrowed from Jonas Mekas, with five friends taking part in an orgy. After the quick shooting, she spent three months editing the film on whim. She created two separate reels, one to be projected at about a third its original size, overlapping the other, full-size, reel. During exhibitions, Rubin would sometimes project one reel upside down or show them in succession, or superimposed on another film. Filters colourised her black and white films, which would be randomly changed by the projectionists. She also specified that the film was to be played silent, with the accompaniment of a loud rock radio station, whatever happens to be on the air at that moment. Belasco argues that the film cannot be reproduced properly because of its unique dual-projection format as well as the use of live radio and colour filters over the film; only a single showing of it could ever be recorded, and each time it would be different, akin to videotaping a piece of live performance, like dance.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Reading Response #4
Fluxfilm viewing response:
George Maciuna's 10 Feet was a playful exercise, showing the viewer exactly how quickly ten feet of film passes through the projector at a normal frame rate. The blackness is only interrupted by the flashing white numbers denoting the length that has been shown.
Yoko Ono's One is a beautiful film. The high-speed camera captures every flicker of motion and amplifies it, slowing the act of striking a match down to take up several seconds, letting the viewer absorb every detail of her hand, the dancing flame, and the chiaroscuro of the shadows around it.
Paul Sharits's Wrist Trick is completely different; I had no idea what I was looking at most of the time, as the negative images flashed in split-seconds across the screen, creating an illusion of movement. I know there were hands, and a banana-shaped thing. The energy of it was exhilarating.
1. What films did Jonas Mekas associate with “Baudelairean Cinema,” and why did he call it that? [Yes, I’m implicitly asking you to look up Baudelaire.]
I've read Baudelaire, so I didn't need to look him up! Baudelaire was associated with the so-called Decandence movement in French literature during the mid-19th century, a reaction against the Romanticism of the past and a forerunner to Modernism. I've read a lot of writers from that period [Huysmans, Rimbaud, de Nerval, etc.] and from what I've read, "Decadence" refers to the championing of the artificial, including outrageous content [rape, murder, sex are all fair game.] Getting back to the question at hand, Jonas Mekas's term "Baudelairean Cinema" refers then to the "beautiful and terrible," to quote Mekas, showing something horrid through the lens of its decaying beauty. Mekas named Flaming Creatures, Blond Cobra, Little Stabs at Happiness, and The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man as Baudelairean.
2. How did Jonas Mekas’s views on experimental cinema change between 1955 and 1961?
Mekas lambasted the early American avant-garde films of the 40s-50s as degenerative and pretentious, saying in his magazine Film Culture that such artists as Brakhage and Deren were pushing for new techniques, not deeper meaning or new themes in their work. When John Cassavetes' Shadows was released, he began to come around to the American avant-garde, awarding it and Pull My Daisy. Mekas was greatly influenced by the Nouvelle Vague movement in France in the late 50s-early 60s; their spirit and innovation made him re-evaluate his earlier condemnation of American avant-garde film, since without it, this new cinema may not have come to fruition.
3. How did Mekas’s interest in performance and improvisation shape his views of the New American Cinema in the 1960s?
Mekas was always interested in acting, as he was a member of a theatre in Lithuania before he moved to the US, studying the Stanislavsky method. He believed not so much in acting a role, as performance--when the actor merges with his role, and the difference between the two becomes unclear. He was especially impressed by improvisational films, such as Shadows and Pull My Daisy, which have a loose script.
6. How does Angell characterize the first major period of Warhol’s filmmaking career? What are some of the films from this period?
Warhol's early films were silent, minimalist works with a usually static camera. These include Sleep, Eat, Blowjob, and his masterpiece of his long minimalist films, Empire.
7. What role did the Screen Tests play in the routines at the Factory and in Warhol’s filmmaking?
Screen Tests were shot over an extensive period, of basically every person who visited the Factory during that time. They were each three-minutes long, and the person was told to be very still, making these films little portraits. These Screen Tests also helped to segue into Warhol's next era of filmmaking, that of serials.
8. How does Angell characterize the first period of sound films in Warhol’s filmmaking career? What are some of the films from this period?
Warhol's first sound films include Harlot, Poor Little Rich Girl and Vinyl. These sound films are characterised by a loose narrative, lack of editing, and creating a film as a full experience. Warhol refused to cut mistakes from the finished films, leaving in out-of-focus shots, and making sure the actors did not know their lines. Whatever the camera captured was the film.
George Maciuna's 10 Feet was a playful exercise, showing the viewer exactly how quickly ten feet of film passes through the projector at a normal frame rate. The blackness is only interrupted by the flashing white numbers denoting the length that has been shown.
Yoko Ono's One is a beautiful film. The high-speed camera captures every flicker of motion and amplifies it, slowing the act of striking a match down to take up several seconds, letting the viewer absorb every detail of her hand, the dancing flame, and the chiaroscuro of the shadows around it.
Paul Sharits's Wrist Trick is completely different; I had no idea what I was looking at most of the time, as the negative images flashed in split-seconds across the screen, creating an illusion of movement. I know there were hands, and a banana-shaped thing. The energy of it was exhilarating.
1. What films did Jonas Mekas associate with “Baudelairean Cinema,” and why did he call it that? [Yes, I’m implicitly asking you to look up Baudelaire.]
I've read Baudelaire, so I didn't need to look him up! Baudelaire was associated with the so-called Decandence movement in French literature during the mid-19th century, a reaction against the Romanticism of the past and a forerunner to Modernism. I've read a lot of writers from that period [Huysmans, Rimbaud, de Nerval, etc.] and from what I've read, "Decadence" refers to the championing of the artificial, including outrageous content [rape, murder, sex are all fair game.] Getting back to the question at hand, Jonas Mekas's term "Baudelairean Cinema" refers then to the "beautiful and terrible," to quote Mekas, showing something horrid through the lens of its decaying beauty. Mekas named Flaming Creatures, Blond Cobra, Little Stabs at Happiness, and The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man as Baudelairean.
2. How did Jonas Mekas’s views on experimental cinema change between 1955 and 1961?
Mekas lambasted the early American avant-garde films of the 40s-50s as degenerative and pretentious, saying in his magazine Film Culture that such artists as Brakhage and Deren were pushing for new techniques, not deeper meaning or new themes in their work. When John Cassavetes' Shadows was released, he began to come around to the American avant-garde, awarding it and Pull My Daisy. Mekas was greatly influenced by the Nouvelle Vague movement in France in the late 50s-early 60s; their spirit and innovation made him re-evaluate his earlier condemnation of American avant-garde film, since without it, this new cinema may not have come to fruition.
3. How did Mekas’s interest in performance and improvisation shape his views of the New American Cinema in the 1960s?
Mekas was always interested in acting, as he was a member of a theatre in Lithuania before he moved to the US, studying the Stanislavsky method. He believed not so much in acting a role, as performance--when the actor merges with his role, and the difference between the two becomes unclear. He was especially impressed by improvisational films, such as Shadows and Pull My Daisy, which have a loose script.
6. How does Angell characterize the first major period of Warhol’s filmmaking career? What are some of the films from this period?
Warhol's early films were silent, minimalist works with a usually static camera. These include Sleep, Eat, Blowjob, and his masterpiece of his long minimalist films, Empire.
7. What role did the Screen Tests play in the routines at the Factory and in Warhol’s filmmaking?
Screen Tests were shot over an extensive period, of basically every person who visited the Factory during that time. They were each three-minutes long, and the person was told to be very still, making these films little portraits. These Screen Tests also helped to segue into Warhol's next era of filmmaking, that of serials.
8. How does Angell characterize the first period of sound films in Warhol’s filmmaking career? What are some of the films from this period?
Warhol's first sound films include Harlot, Poor Little Rich Girl and Vinyl. These sound films are characterised by a loose narrative, lack of editing, and creating a film as a full experience. Warhol refused to cut mistakes from the finished films, leaving in out-of-focus shots, and making sure the actors did not know their lines. Whatever the camera captured was the film.
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