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(7″ IPS; 1/4″ REEL-7″; 00:45:46)

Found via Anthology Film Archives / UbuWeb

Filmmaker Charles Levine interviews animator/artist Robert Breer at his home in Palisades, New York. They cover Breer’s transition from painting to film, his years spent in Paris, neo-plastic painting, W.K.L. Dickson’s Mutoscope, image and sound composition, modes of exhibition, audience impact and the conventions of cinema.

Boogie-Doodle, Norman McLaren, 1948, 3 min, color, sound

Boogie-Doodle is a well known animation from the eminant animator, Norm McLaren. McLaren (1914–1987) was a Scottish born Canadian animator who directed over 70 films, and animated 39 films, one of which won an academy award, with academy nominations for three others.

Apart from his experimental works, McLaren made several propaganda films for the National Film Board during WWII, according to his biography on IMDB:

In the early 30s he worked as a cameraman in Scotland and England, and in 1936 went to Spain to film the Civil War. He emigrated to the US in 1939, aware that war was imminent, and in 1941, at the invitation of John Grierson, he moved to Canada to work for the National Film Board.

McClaren made several propaganda films for the NFB, but continued develop his experimental work in his spare time.

This three minute film was made without a camera. It is a colorful and rhythmic game of cat-and-mouse: in this case, the giddy heart chases after a blue object, and the chaser must dodge obsticles to dance with the one whom it chases.

Click here for McLaren’s filmography and information.

Tomonari Nishikawa, Japan, 2008, 3 min, 35mm color, silent

Synopsis: This film was shot with a still camera with 16 lenses, which takes a series of 16 pictures within 1.5 seconds, fitting onto two normal frame areas.

The film shows the sense of the event at Tokyo Racecourse, when it was holding the biggest race of the year, Japanese Derby (Tokyo Yushun). The excitement of each race lasts two minutes and 30 seconds.” — Tomonari Nishikawa

Ten Second Film, Bruce Conner, 1965, 10 sec, b&w, silent

Film Center of Lincoln Society :

“When Conner was commissioned to design the poster for the 1965 New York Film Festival he constructed TEN SECOND FILM, which he intended to act as its television commercial and to precede the film programs in the theater. It was a public ‘leader’ in that it was composed, like the poster, of a series of ten strips of film (each 24 frames long) of count-down leader, seen as fundamental heraldry of motion picture exhibition.” —Anthony Reveaux

#11, Marey <->Moiré, 1999, 35mm scope, color, sound, 21 min

Synopsis (CATE and JR) : In the award-winning #11, Marey <->Moiré , Rekveld creates stroboscopic patterns from filaments of intersecting lights.

“#11 premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2000. It won the Grand Prix for non-narrative animation at the Holland Animation festival in Utrecht in 2000. Also I’ve been told it was the first ever Dutch film to be shown at Sundance (also in 2000).” — Joost Rekveld

Via Conversations at the Edge

Photo Via Colin T. Campbell, Brooklyn

Orange dinca stickers adhered in Brooklyn. Colin T. Campbell makes a soup with signage-landscape and a dinca sticker. Email us if you want a free sticker.

T.O.U.C.H.I.N.G., Paul Sharits, 1969, 12 min

The above images are from T.O.U.C.H.I.N.G. by Paul Sharits. Not all frames are embedded in successive order. The above frames have an unknown copyright. The below frames are © Copyright Paul Sharits Estate.

All frames found via The Anthology Film Archives.

Percy the Persian Blue and the Sinking Sand, Arran Ridley, 2010, 2 min, video

For me, this is nostalgia, evoking memories of my first years of web design, wherein I used free, visual-based .html editing services, e.g., expage, angelfire, geocities, and tripod. I believe all of those services are now defunct, with the possible exception of geocities, I think. My first website website was “Gecko Land,” a website containing an eclectic mix of gecko and salamander care-sheets. After global success with Gecko Land — the proof was in the guestbook, people from around the world sent their thanks — I launched a second website, Gecko World, another success. Those websites were up for seven or so years. This video by Arran Ridley reminders me of my first two websites, considering its elements of the auto-play midi-music that plays in the background, the animated .gifs, and other kitsch elements. That, and the cat subject is akin to my gecko and salamander subjects. So there is my subjective analysis of this video, not much I can add, other than I suggest you watch this video for shits and giggles.

Visit Arran’s website here.

Official Synopsis: Our 2 year old Persian Blue is a fussy fellow. Percy has always had hissy tantrums when faced with baths, grooming, food and vets visits but he’s a beautiful, proud cat with bundles of character. He’s a tentative mouser too but the one thing he cannot resist is chasing birds.

We have a sand pit in our back garden, which has a cover to keep it safe from Percy and other cat’s messages. It attracts insects and in turn birds which only makes it more interesting for Percy.

Anyway it’s been very stormy here recently and percy has been reluctant to go outside, he gazes out of the window and look at me all sad eyed and bored that there’s nothing to chase and no kingdom to survey as it’s covered in water- something Percy avoids at all costs!

I put Percy out the back door, early, one morning, after a very rainy night where thunder had made it impossible to sleep. Having got overtired I completely forgot about him until I sat down with a cup of tea mid-morning in the conservatory. I noticed the cover of the sandpit cover had been blown off and was lying against our garden fence. I ran into the garden to right the cover, only to find Percy, neck-deep in quicksand, there were a few feathers half sunk in the sand. Percy was very upset, he mewed loudly and gave me an expression so infuriated and was very grateful to be scooped out of his quicksand nightmare. The storm had been so powerful it whipped off the sand pit cover, and most of the sand, then pouring rain had made what was left into some very dangerous quicksand! I imagine a bird must have been flitting around on one side and Percy must have pounced in and become stuck!

Percy is no longer so keen to chase birds and respects the sandpit at a safe distance and he got a lovely thorough bath and grooming, which he reluctantly endured. Now he’s back to being a pretty kitty having learnt his lesson.

2010 is yet another fantastic year for avant-garde film; yet another fantastic New York Film Festival: Views from the Avant-Garde film program. With this post, I will try my best to provide an organized, comprehensive schedule for the 2010 NYFF: Views from the Avant-Garde. Soon enough, I will add all respective links for filmmakers and venues. (Hopefully all have a website these days.) Check back — I’ll keep you posted.

Straight verbatim from the 2010 NYFF 2010 Views from the Avant-Garde Website:

Curated by Mark McElhatten and Gavin Smith. For its 14th year, Views offers an expanded edition, presenting four nights of New York and world premieres from the frontiers of innovative moving image making. Highlights include Robert Beavers’s The Suppliant, James Benning’s Ruhr, Nathaniel Dorsky’s Pastourelle, a restoration of Manoel de Oliveira’s Rite of Spring, and Phil Solomon’s three-screen American Falls. Also expect new work by Thom Andersen, Ute Aurand, Stephanie Barber, Mati Diop, David Gatten, Janie Geiser, Lewis Klahr, Dani Leventhal, Jeanne Liotta, Matt McCormick, Tomonari Nishikawa, Michael Robinson, Fern Silva, Deborah Stratman, Peter Tscherkassky and many others, plus nightly special Furman Gallery projection performances by Paul Clipson and Bruce McClure.

THURSDAY SEPT 30

6:30pm in the Furman Gallery
Pierre Clémenti: Inédite Bobines
“lost” reels from the 16mm films of actor-director Pierre Clémenti
France, c. 1965-75; 104m.

FRIDAY OCT 1

Noon
Jean-Marie Straub
O somma luce Jean-Marie Straub, France, 2009, 18m.
Corneille–Brecht Jean-Marie Straub & Cornelia Geise, France, 2009, 80m.

2:00pm
Helga Fanderl
Super 8 to 16mm blow-ups

//////// I ////////
Birds at Checkpoint Charlie (Vögel am Checkpoint Charlie)
East Berlin (Ostberlin)
Tunnel
From the Empire State Building (Aus dem Empire State Building)
Tortelloni
Wild Waters (Wilde Wasser)
Polar Bear (Eisbär)
18m.

//////// II ////////
Porte St. Denis
Columbus Circle
Rue Labat Mourning (Rue Labat in Trauer)
Mirrored Café (Spiegelcafé)
Hut (Hütte)
Tropical Garden in Spring Time (Jardin tropical im Frühling)
15m.

//////// III ////////
Portrait
Tea Time (Teetrinken)
Red Curtain (Roter Vorhang)
c. 7m.

//////// IV ////////
Dancing Water II (Wassertanz II)
For M. (Für M.)
Butterflies (Schmetterlinge)
After the Fire II (Nach dem Feuer II)
Sculpture and Water (Skulptur und Wasser)
15m.

//////// V ////////
Mist II (Nebel II)
Winklerweiher
Dancing Water I (Wassertanz I)
Mist I (Nebel I)
Künettegraben short (Künettegraben kurz)
Ingolstadt at Night (Ingolstadt nachts)
Oranges, Moon and Sun (Orangen, Mond und Sonne)
Cobwebs and Fishes (Spinnweben und Fische)
13m.

3.30pm
History is Homemade at Night: The Crazy, Beautiful World of Jeff Keen
Marvo Movie U.K., 1967, 5m.
Cineblatz, U.K., 1967, 3m.
Meatdaze U.K., 1968, 10m.
White Lite U.K., 1968, 3m.
Wail U.K., 1961, 5m.
Rayday Film U.K., 1968-1970/1976, 13m.
White Dust U.K., 1970-72, 33m.

5.30pm
Jennifer Montgomery
The Agonal Phase U.S., 2010, 42m.
Transitional Objects U.S., 2000, 19m.

7:30pm
Phil Solomon
American Falls U.S., 2010, 55m.
What’s Out Tonight Is Lost U.S., 1983, 8m.; new print – preservation by the Academy Film Archive

9:00pm
James Benning
Ruhr Germany/U.S., 2009, 120m.

SATURDAY OCT 2

12 noon
Mirror of Shadow and Cinders
Photofinish Figures (Il finish delle figure) Paolo Gioli, Italy, 2009, 9.12m.
A Thousand Julys Lewis Klahr, USA, 2010, 6.30m.
Marie Karen Yasinsky, USA, 2010, 5m.
Dissonant Manon de Boer, Netherlands/Belgium, 11m.
Ape of Nature Peggy Ahwesh, USA, 2010, 24m. double-screen version
The Soul of Things Dominck Angerame, USA, 2010, 15m.
Destination Final Philip Widmann, Germany, 2010 9m.
Valleys of Fear Erin Espelie, USA, 2010, 22m.
SHU (Blue Hour Lullaby) Philipp Lachenmann, Germany, 2008, 12m.

2:30pm
Station to Station
Crosswalk Jeanne Liotta, USA, 2010, 25m.
Servants of Mercy Fern Silva, Portugal/USA, 2010, 14m.
Rite of Spring (restoration) Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal, 1963, 99m
Print courtesy of Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema,
presented in cooperation with the Museum of Modern Art.

5:30pm
Visibility Unknown
The Flight of Tulugaq (O Voo de Tulugaq) André Guerreiro Lopes, Brazil, 8m.
New Year Sun Jonathan Schwartz, USA, 2010, 3m.
Trypps #7 (Badlands) Ben Russell, USA, 2010, 9.30m.
Burning Bush Vincent Grenier, USA, 2010, 9.5m
Materia Obscura Jürgen Reble, Germany 11.29m.
a loft Ken Jacobs, USA, 2010, 16m.
Mamori Karl Lemieux, Canada, 2010, 7.44m.
Union Paul Clipson, USA, 2010, 10m.
Parties visible et invisible d’un ensemble sous tension Emmanuel Lefrant, France, 2010, 7m.
Drifter Timoleon Wilkins, USA, 1996-2010, 26m.

8:15pm
Since You Were Here …
Dust Studies Michael Gitlin, USA, 2010, 9m.
Washes Norbert Shieh, USA, 2010, 8.40m.
Get Out of the Car Thom Andersen, USA, 2010, 35m.
Obscurando el Apartiemento Rosario Sotelo, USA, 2010, 3m.
Cry When it Happens (Llora cuando te pase) Laida Lertxundi, USA, 2010, 17m.
Night Shift Gretchen Skogersen, USA, 2010, 5m.
Future So Bright Matt McCormick, USA, 2010, 30m.

10:30pm in the Furman Gallery
Night Gallery – Turn on the High Beams I
two projection performances
Untitled Galaxy Paul Clipson & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, 2010, 30m.
FIST I – IMPROPER FRICTIONS Bruce McClure, 2010, approx 30m

Sunday October 3

12 noon
Sea Scrolls
Atlantis Pieter Geenen, China/Netherlands, 2008, 11.18m.
Dining Cars Arianne Olthar, Netherlands, 2009, 15.5m.
Sea Series #7: Naufrage aux îles de Madeleine John Price, Canada, 2010, 3.39m.
Atlantiques Mati Diop, Senegal/France, 2009, 11m.
Distance Julie Murray, USA, 2010, 12m.
Travelogue Vincent Grenier, USA, 2010, 8.8m.
Shrimp Boat Log David Gatten, USA, 2010, 6m.
Blue Mantle Rebecca Meyer, USA, 2010, 34m.

2:30pm
Landing on the Edge
Place for Landing Shambavi Kaul, USA, 2010, 6m.
Hearts are Trump Again Dani Leventhal, USA, 2010, 14m.
Ray’s Birds Deborah Stratman, USA, 2010, 7m.
In the Absence of Light, Darkness Prevails Fern Silva, Brazil/USA, 2010, 13m.
Slave Ship T. Marie, USA, 2010, 4m.
Someone Should Be Happy Here April Simmons, USA, 2010, 5m.
THE HUNCH THAT CAUSED THE WINNING STREAK AND FOUGHT THE DOLDRUMS MIGHTILY Stephanie Barber, USA, 2010, 1.53m., 4.5m.
Razor’s Edge Stephanie Barber and Xav LePlae, USA, 2010, 44m.

4:30pm
Séance
bust chance Stephanie Barber, USA, 2010, 7m.
Love Rose Bobby Abate, USA, 2010, 13.7m.
Kindless Villain Janie Geiser, USA, 2010, 5m.
So Sure of Nowhere Buying Times to Come David Gatten, USA, 2010, 9m.
April Snow Lewis Klahr, USA, 2010, 10m.
Facts Told at Retail (after Henry James) Erin Espelie, USA, 2010, 7m.
Ghost Algebra Janie Geiser, USA, 2009 7.5m.
Tokyo–Ebisu Tomanari Nishikawa, Japan, 2010, 5m.
Possessed Fred Worden, USA, 2010, 8m.
These Hammers Don’t Hurt Us Michael Robinson, USA, 2010, 13m.

6.30pm
Song Cycle
Pastourelle Nathaniel Dorsky, USA, 2010, 16.5m.
Ouverture Christopher Becks, France, 2010, 5m.
The Suppliant Robert Beavers, USA/Switzerland, 2010, 5m.
Hanging upside down in the branches Ute Aurand, Germany, 2009, 15m.
Film for Invisible Ink, case no. 323: ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST David Gatten, USA, 2010, 20m.
In a Year with 13 Deaths Jonathan Schwartz, USA, 2008, 3m.
One Eve Heller, USA/Austria, 2010, 4m.
Shibiyu-Tokyo Tomanari Nishikawa, Japan, 2010, 10m.
Beneath Your Skin of Deep Hollow Malena Szlam, Chile/Canada, 2010, 3m.
Gesturings Peter Herwitz, USA, 2010, 5m.
Day Dream Jim Jennings, USA, 2010, 7m.

8:30
Fatal Attractions: An Introduction to Black and White Magic
These Blaezing Starrs Deborah Stratman, USA, 2010, 14.4m.
Tranquility Sigfried A. Fruhauf, Austria, 2010, 6.30m.
To Another Josh Mabe, USA, 2010, 48sec.
Sugar Slim Says Lewis Klahr, USA, 2010, 7m.
Sorry Luther Price, USA, 2010, 14m.
Shutter Alexi Mani, Canada, 2009, 7m.
Floor of the World Janie Geiser, USA, 2010, 8m.
Toads Milena Gierke, Germany, 1997/2008, 6m.
Pigs Pavel Wojtasik, U.S., 2010, 7.45m.
Shadow Cut Martin Arnold, Austria, 2010, 4m.
Coming Attractions Peter Tscherkassky, Austria, 2010, 23.40m.
Total running time: 105.5m

10:30pm in the Furman Gallery
Night Gallery – Turn on the High Beams II
two projection performances
Crescent Paul Clipson & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, 2010, 30m.
FIST II – INTO A SOTSPOT Bruce McClure, 2010, approx 30m.

More:

2010 NYFF Views from the Avant-Garde website

I’m very pleased to have found a large-sized image of Harry Smith’s Tree of Life in the Four Worlds. Filmmaker and artist, Harry Smith, created this brilliant and unique interpretation of the Tree of Life in 1954 when he was employed at Inkweed Arts, a greeting card company owned by Lionel Ziprin. 500 copies were printed in the first edition. The Tree of Life was shown at the Whitney Museum exhibit “Beat Culture and the New America 1950-1965.” The 1997 edition is printed from the original collotype plates executed by Jordan Belson.

It has now been reprinted in a limited fine art edition of 500 on Arches Cover 7″x 28″, available for purchase.

Pyramid, Duncan Malashock, 2 minutes, Video

This animation is smart dust that explores ancient gold truths. The animation was created by Duncan Malashock, a nyc-based artist whose work we have posted previously.

Deborah Stratman: Tactical Uses of a Belief in the Unseen
26 August to 16 October, 2010

Venue: Gahlberg Gallery McAninich Arts Center
Reception: 26 August 2010, 6:00pm–8:00pm
Address: 425 Fawell Blvd, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137

This installation draws upon the ecological effects of vibration and the history of sonic warfare. At root is an interest in the way sound both makes and disturbs place. Its very nothingness seduces us. Historically, sound has been an ideal medium for the performance of psychological warfare because of how efficiently it evokes events and locations. Whether declarative, as with anthems or artillery, or deceptive, as with sonic decoys or surveillance, the audiosphere is well disposed to militarization.

Inside the gallery, aural encounters occur in two strains: one territorial, where sound travels through the ground walked upon, as much felt as heard, the other aerial, as a sonic beam that occasionally sweeps the visitor unannounced like a wandering ghost. A third Aeolian harp element will occur outside the Art Center. This will be a wire made to resonate by the wind, and so aleatory by nature.

More:

Pythagoras Film

Still from L’Âge d’Or (1930) by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí

At the beginning of Buñuel and Dalí’s second film,  L’Âge d’Or, four archbishops turn to skeletons on the rocks.

Friday, August 20^th

ROOFTOP SHOTS

The official Closing Night of Rooftop Films 2010 Summer Series includes short films all about endings. Films so sharp we call them shots, fired from the roof one last time this year.

There’s nothing sadder than saying goodbye to something you cherish. Nothing more painful than the loss of something personal, or the death of a loved one. Rooftop Films isn’t dying (or even leaving for long; thanks to donations from our audience we will have special new shows in September), but on the official Closing Night of our 14th Annual Summer Series, we finish an amazing summer of cinema with a powerful, poignant program of films about transitions, departures and disappearances.

This year Rooftop has hosted 44 screenings in 13 different outdoor locations, showing 22 feature-length films and over 120 short films. But we’ve saved some of the best for last, as the spectacular films in our grand finale remind us that sometimes you don’t know a great thing till it’s gone. Come out to Rooftop and come celebrate the conclusion with us. — Lela Scott McNeil, Rooftop Films / Underground Movies Outdoors

Where:

On the roof of The Old American Can Factory
232 3^rd St. (Gowanus/Park Slope, Brooklyn)

When:

Friday, August 20^th
8:00 Doors open
8:30 Live music
9:00 Films begin
11:00 After Party in the courtyard with free open bar
Tickets are $10, online or at the door. For tickets and more information, click here.

The Films:

CENTIPEDE SUN (Mihai Grecu | France | 10 min.)
An artist of visual wonder, Grecu returns to Rooftop with a film about the mysteriously barren Altiplano region of Chile, finding mythical creatures who might once have filled the now desolate landscape, a haunting metaphor for a desperate future world. (official link)

OLD FANGS (Adrien Merigeau | Ireland | 11 min.)
After years away from the ruthless natural world of the woods, a young wolf confronts his savage father (and his own transition from child to adult), in this dark, enveloping animation. (official link)

12 NOTES DOWN (Andreas Koefoed | Denmark | 26 min.)
How do you decide when it’s time to let go? For young Jorgis, the star voice of the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir, the moment is upon him. Just a few weeks before an important concert, his voice has suddenly begun to break, forcing the fourteen-year-old into a state of transition he is not prepared for. He must choose between damaging his vocal cords trying to hit the high notes or dashing his hopes by walking away. This tender documentary is a portrayal of a universal, yet intensely personal, rite of passage that resonates with viewers of any age.

THE POODLE TRAINER (Vance Malone | Culver City, CA | 7 min.)
In this intimate portrait of destiny, passion, and loss, Irina Markova, a solitary Russian poodle trainer, reveals her transcendent relationship with her dogs, the childhood tragedy that sparked a lifetime of working with animals, and the welcome isolation behind the red velvet curtains of the circus. (official link)

KISS (KUS) (Joost van Ginkel | The Netherlands | 10 min.)
Eight-year-old Bruno finds it interesting that his father, Daan, routinely wants to shave his beard and head before he leaves on a dangerous military mission in a desert country far away. This time, Daan lets Bruno shave him. Along with this intimate way of saying goodbye, we see what happens to Daan on his mission through Bruno’s visions playing with his toy soldiers. (official link)

CHAINSAW FOUND JESUS (Spencer Parsons | Austin, TX | 21 min.)
Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Grantee! A melancholy comedy about two fathers, two sons, and the cocaine sale that brings them all together for an everyday adventure. Far from your standard drug movie, this sad but hilariously bizarre film is about the moment before making a change, and maybe worrying that change just means trading up one sorry addiction for another.

I WITHOUT END (Laleh Khorramian | New York, NY | 7 min.)
Two uniquely discarded lovers live out lives of sensual decay, in a literally bittersweet animated film.

MARY LAST SEEN (Sean Durkin | New York, NY | 13 min.)
A young woman embarks on a road trip with her boyfriend to a place he promises will be beautiful and peaceful. But a series of strange events occur on their journey, and it becomes clear that their relationship is not what she thinks and their destination is not what was promised. (official link)

More:

rooftopfilms.com

Ben Russell + Joe Grimm – Mazes /  La Casa Encendida, Madrid

September 3 · 8:00pm – 9:00pm

Museum of Contemporary Art

220 East Chicago Avenue

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago premiere. Presented in conjunction with the UBS 12×12 Exhibition: BEN RUSSELL (free to those attending the First Fridays opening):

After touring extensively through Europe with PEACE NOISE and appearing at festivals in Bordeaux and Madrid in their newest incarnation, light-noise duo MAZES come to the MCA for their first Chicago performance. Positioned behind a fistful of audio circuits and a pair of 16mm film projectors,… media artist Ben Russell sprays white light in pulsating patterns onto your optic nerves, shaping sound and eyebeam with fingers/hands that intercede between lens and screen. A photon’s throw away, sound artist Joe Grimm weaves a tangle of hand-built electronics into a skin of noise, a further manifestation of light pattern and intensity as real time audio. Light is sound is light, cause and effect and chaos and hypnosis, again and again and again. — Ben Russell

Road, Duncan Malashock, 40 sec, video, 2010

Duncan Malashock is a new media artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Born 1982, San Diego, California. Graduated Bard College 2005, BA Integrated Arts.

Duncan’s work is part of the current Refresh exhibit at the Axiom Center for New and Experimental Media. Upcoming events featuring Duncan’s work:

August 27th – The Shift, 319 Scholes, Brooklyn NY

September 9th – Texas Advanced Computing Center, Austin TX