This series examines the work of a group of American artists who approached film through independently-produced, frame-by-frame animations in the 1970s and 80s. Made primarily by artists with no formal animation training, this selection of films incorporates autobiography, visual fantasy, abstraction, medium specificity, and biting satire. Some artists explored cel and hand-drawn animation while others explored new directions in kinetic collage. Some used flicker and abstraction and others explored the affective potential of film through psychedelic fantasy. This series highlights themes of the body and sexuality, media critique, psychedelia, structure and composition, the animated diary, and the influence of cartoons. Lending historical context to recent developments in both animation studies and the role of animation in contemporary art, we present a timely investigation of this era of invention and energy in experimental animation, suggesting a landscape of artists whose work needs to be considered anew.
Curated by Herb Shellenberger, who will introduce each screening.
Independent Frames is sponsored by Lightbox Film Center (Philadelphia).
Program 1: Exploded View
This collection of shorts surveys responses to the pop art and psychedelia boom of the mid-1960s and early 1970s with works of graphic collage, violent flickering colors and sensory overload.
TRT 70m
Film-Makers’ Showcase, Francis Lee/Fred von Bernewitz, 1963, 3m, 16mm; The Pop Show, Fred Mogubgub, 1966, 7m, digital; Oh, Stan Vanderbeek, 1968, 9m, 16mm; America is Wating, Bruce Conner, 1981, 4m, 16mm; Jungle Madness, Don Duga, 1967, 6m, 16mm; Scanning, Paul Glabicki, 1976, 3m, 16mm, Pesca Pisca, Irene Duga, 1968, 3m, 16mm; Doppler Effect Version II, Dan Agnew, 1968, 4m,16mm; Evolution of the Red Star, Adam Beckett, 1973, 7m, 16mm,
3D Movie; Paul Sharits, 1975, 8m, 16mm; Circles of Confusion, Bill Brand, 1974, 15m,16mm
Fri February 2, 7.00pm
Program 2: Shape and Structure
While structural film was the dominant form within the avant-garde tradition at the dawn of the 1970s, this program explores how animators used shape and structure in a variety of ways that differentiated their works.
TRT 64m
Ten Second Film, Bruce Conner, 1966, 10 sec., 16mm; Runaway, Standish Lawder, 1969, 6m, 16mm; Object Conversation, Paul Glabicki, 1985, 10m, 16mm; Zip-Tone-Cat-Tune, Bill Brand, 1972, 6m,16mm; Colored Relations
Barry Spinello, 1970, 5m, 16mm; Diagram Film, Paul Glabicki, 1978, 14m, 16mm; Precious Metal Variations, David Ehrlich, 1983, 4m, 16mm; Saugus Series, Pat O’Neill, 1974, 18m, 16mm
Sat February 3, 1.00pm
Program 3: Underground Cartoons
American experimental animators didn’t simply turn their backs on the cartoon tradition, but productively incorporated some of its best and most subversive elements into their independently-produced films.
TRT 76m
Academy Leader Variations, Various artists, 1987, 6m, 16mm; New Fangled
George Griffin, 1990, 2m, digital; Curious Alice, United States Information Agency, 1971, 13m, 16mm; Filet of Soul, Victor Faccinto, 1972, 16m, 16mm
Impetigo, James Duesing, 1983, 5m,16mm; Tugging the Worm, James Duesing, 1987, 9m, 16mm; Quasi at the Quackadero, Sally Cruikshank, 1975, 10m,16mm; Puttin’ on the Fur, George Griffin, 1981/2016, 7m, digital
Sat February 3, 2.45pm
Program 4: Introspection
Here animators turn their attention inward with personal films, which correspond to the deeply introspective diary films that formed a key part of the New American Cinema the previous decade.
TRT 75m
Self Portrait, Maria Lassnig, 1973, 5m, 16mm; Three Short Films (School in the Sky, Going Home Sketchbook, Whale Songs), Mary Beams, 1971-80, 21m, 16mm; Milk of Amnesia, Jeff Scher, 1992, 6m, 16mm; Odalisque, Maureen Selwood, 1980, 12m, digital; Five Short Films (Interior Designs, Remains to Be Seen, Traveling Light, Set in Motion, This Time Around), Jane Aaron, 1980-89, 19m, digital; Glass Gardens, Lisa Crafts, 1982, 5m, 16mm; Hand Held Day,
Gary Beydler, 1975, 6m, 16mm
Sun February 4, 1.00pm
Program 5: Bodymania
From morphing bodies engaged in rapturous copulation (Desire Pie) to disembodied parts (The Club, Seed Reel), artists respond to the waning sexual revolution and the women’s movement, expressing agency and stimulation while at the same time depicting complex forms of desire.
TRT 75m
The Club, George Griffin, 1975, 4m, digital; Hair Piece: A Film for Nappy-Headed People, Ayoka Chenzira, 1985, 10m, digital; Bust Bag, Don Duga, 1964, 6m,16mm; Dissipative Dialogues, David Ehrlich, 1982, 3m,16mm
Head; George Griffin, 1975, 10m, digital, Tub Film, Mary Beams, 1972, 2m,16mm; Seed Reel, Mary Beams, 1975, 4 min, 16mm; Crocus, Suzan Pitt, 1971, 7m, 16mm; Desire Pie, Lisa Crafts, 1976, 5m,16mm; Flesh Flows, Adam Beckett, 1974, 6m,16mm; Asparagus, Suzan Pitt, 1979, 20m, 16mm
Sun February 4, 3.00pm
No comments:
Post a Comment