Friday,
April 2, 2010
Graphically
Illuminated
Graphically
Illuminated is an Independent Project of Philagrafika
2010, Philadelphia's international festival celebrating
print in contemporary art.
Using
printed graphics as a jumping off point, these films offer an
excellent example of the imaginative powers of some of the most
highly regarded experimental filmmakers of the 20 th century.
Each film acts as a funnel for found and re-appropriated images,
updating them with the kinetic energy of cinema. Though their
methods vary, each filmmaker imbues their work with a unique
sense of whimsy balanced by a rigorous approach to structure.
The films viewed separately are worlds unto themselves. Collected
in this series, they demonstrate the possibilities of using
printed images in a more unconventional style of animated storytelling.
Heaven
and Earth Magic
dir.
Harry Smith, US, 1962, 16mm, 66 mins, color
Arguably
Smith’s most important work, Heaven and Earth Magic
is a landmark in avant-garde filmmaking.
Science
Friction
dir.
Stan Vanderbeek, US, 1959, 16mm, 9 mins, color
A
social satire aimed at the rockets, scientists, and competitive
mania of our time.
Recreation
dir.
Robert Breer, US, 1956, 16mm, 1.5 mins, color
Featuring
a commentary by Noel Burch (in nonsense French), Recreation's
rapid-fire montage of single-frame images of incredible
density and intensity has been compared to contemporary Beat
poetry.
48
Kopfe aus dem Szondi Test (48 Heads from the Szondi Test)
dir.
Kurt Kren, Austria, 1960, 16mm, 5 mins, b/w
Kren's
second film and the first he cut according to a strictly serial,
sequence technique. In various frame sizes, the 48 portraits
from the Szondi Test for "experimental diagnosis of human
impulses" are shown in pre-specified lengths between one
and eight frames.
Tanka
dir.
David Lebrun, US, 1976, 16mm, 9 mins, color
The
film, photographed from Tibetan scroll paintings of the sixteenth
to nineteenth centuries, is a cyclical vision of ancient gods
and demons, an animated journey through the image world of the
Tibetan Book of the Dead.
Duo
Concertantes
dir.
Lawrence Jordan, US, 1964, 16mm, 9 mins, b/w
"Jordan's
imagery is exquisite and eloquent, concentrating on simple,
repeated use of particularly poetic symbols and figures, a conglomerative
effect of old Gustave Dore drawings, 19th century whatnot memorabilia,
all fused to a totally aware perception." - Lita Eliseu,
East Village Other
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