I did find, in conducting a bunch of oral histories, that three films came up multiple times as films that inspired people into making experimental films.
No surprises: Meshes of the Afternoon A Movie Blood of a Poet I think the importance of Blood of a Poet cannot be underestimated. So although I think there are no shortage of ³essential² films, and many more films that influenced people to pursue this type of film art, I can suggest that for at least a generation of folks from the late 1940s through the mid-1960s, those three seem to be essential, and should still be part of any education. On 3/29/15 10:56 AM, "Gene Youngblood" <ato...@comcast.net> wrote: > The original question is so absurd that I almost didn¹t respond, but i did, > only to make the point that, within such a restricted frame, you don¹t start > with specific films, you start with possibilities: Isn¹t it exciting that you > can make an ³abstract² work, or a minimal one, or you can compose an essay? > What do those words mean? How have artists interpreted them? And isn¹t it > exciting that you can combine all of them, which is the thin edge of the > interventionist wedge today. Another point: mid-century isn¹t synonymous with > Modernism; it¹s simply when the new American cinema began in full force. > > I showed Wavelength and Nostalgia for 38 years, in both fine arts and > mainstream contexts, and never once did my students, as a group, ³want to kill > themselves.² No one who is truly ³curious² and ³excited² would have such a > response. It¹s an admission of failure (if not laziness, cowardice or outright > betrayal) as a teacher. Your responsibility is to make them curious, to make > them excited. Out of 60 students every semester from the late 90s on, I could > count on at least 10 percent of them writing term papers on one or both of > those films, and these were people who thought Spielberg is a genius. > > > >> On Mar 29, 2015, at 9:37 AM, Andy Ditzler <a...@andyditzler.com> wrote: >> >> Without getting into questions of "essential," I would say that this is not >> my experience at all with screening Wavelength. My students - definitely >> curious and excited people - generally loved watching it, and there was much >> productive discussion. I've also shown it publicly in my film series on >> several occasions, again with good results and much discussion afterward >> (though of course the reactions were not uniformly positive). You see it as >> mid-century high modernism (thus presumably representing a fixed, "major" >> tradition), whereas I see it as a film particularly vulnerable to attacks >> based precisely upon its difference, which is perhaps one reason I'm >> sympathetic to it. In any case, there's no reason that screenings of this >> film cannot be deeply sensuous and engaging experiences, especially for >> artists. >> >> Best, >> >> Andy Ditzler >> >> On Sun, Mar 29, 2015 at 9:11 AM, Sasha Waters Freyer <swfre...@vcu.edu> >> wrote: >>> >>> >>> If you want to take a group of curious, excited young artists and basically >>> make them want to kill themselves, by all means, show them "Wavelength." I >>> call shenanigans on equating "essential" with mid-century high modernism >>> which is but one of many 'major traditions.' Another, more engaging legacy >>> might be the fascinating intersections between art history, critical theory, >>> politics and popular culture that coalesces and build in the '90-s and early >>> 00s, exemplified in different but totally exciting and unique ways by: >>> >>> "It Wasn't Love" - Sadie Benning >>> "November" - Hito Steyerl >>> "A Little Death" - Sam Taylor-Wood >>> >>> So much richness here! Relationships between realism and (high/post) >>> modernism; identity/queer performance pre-youtube/selfie era; the explosion >>> of new tech in the 90s on and their formal implications; post-9/11 >>> everything; the 'Celebrity-artist' career trajectory of STW, etc., etc, >>> etc.... >>> >>> >>> Sasha >>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>
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