Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Didn't mean to imply that step-printing would be the same, or
specifically similar, to showing at silent speed. The general point
wasn't that the effects are the same but that a variety of types of
manipulations of film temporality can be used effectively (or not
effectively) for various aims. Whether and how any of the techniques --
step printing or shifts of projection speed -- functions depends on the
specific film, as your example of the Arabic Numeral films nicely implies.
j
On 2/13/12 4:21 PM, Steve Polta wrote:
Of course, Gehr's extension of "A Trip Down Market Street" into his
EUREKA (by step-printing each frame in original eight times (I
believe)) is separate from projection speed; Gehr's EUKEKA is properly
run, for the record at 24fps.
Notably, this sound/speed silent speed results in other effects than
merely slowing down motion or extending time. For example, I can
recall Hollis Frampton's ORDINARY MATTER projected at 16fps and noting
a very strange clarity and stillness to each frame, which I recognized
as possibly the result of a pixilated shooting technique slowed way
down. Notably this is a sound film, with sound played "double system"
(i.e. not on a mag track). Similarly, in a film like Ken Jacobs' TOM
TOM...—created, it is worth noting by filming a film as it is
projected (i.e. not optically or contact printed—am I wrong about
this?) the pulsing projection (at 16fps, or 18 if you must) places the
pulsing projection as a subject of the film.
Another well-known proponent of "silent speed" is of course Nathaniel
Dorsky, who shoots his own films at a variety of camera speeds but
almost always dictates a projection speed of 18fps. Hearing him speak
in the late '90s when presenting selections from Stan Brakhage's
ARABIC NUMERAL series (which, until Dorsky convinced him otherwise
were always screened at 24fps), Dorsky discussed how 18fps placed the
films at the "threshold of flicker" and introduced intimation of
instability into the visual experience. He has since said as much
about his own decision to present his films at this speed. Note well
that the perceptual/physiological experience of viewing a film
projected in this manner is completely different from viewing a
step-printed film projected at 24fps.
Steve Polta
--- On *Mon, 2/13/12, John Matturri //* wrote:
From: John Matturri
Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI /
Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
To: "Experimental Film Discussion List"
Date: Monday, February 13, 2012, 11:24 AM
Not impossible that there was an offhand, perhaps even sarcastically
intended, remark that Mekas repeated or wrote down in his column and
which Brakhage just forgot making. Print has an odd power to take
slight
anecdotes and give them a status beyond their initial intent. (My own
remembering, which may be accurate or not, is that Brakhage said
that he
now saw the point of the film but still was largely unimpressed.)
But of course the real issue is whether the shift in projection speed
really does have the affect that the anecdote attributes to it.
Neither
the authority of SB's statement nor his disavowal has all that much
relevance to that. Certainly there are instances where such shifts
are
transformative -- Ernie Gehr's step-printing of the source of Eureka
--but it needs to be taken on a case by case basis. I've only seen
excerpts of Sleep, so can't judge.
j
On 2/13/12 2:05 PM, Pierce, Greg wrote:
> The essay with the apocryphal story is in Notes After Reseeing
the Films of Andy Warhol by Jonas Mekas. First published in Andy
Warhol by John Coplans in 1970. Reprinted in Andy Warhol Film
Factory by Michael O'Pray in 1989. ~ Greg
>
> ps: More later.
>
>
:
> the warhol:
> Greg Pierce
> Assistant Curator of Film and Video
> 117 Sandusky Street
> Pittsburgh, PA 15212
> T 412.237.8332
> F 412.237.8340
> E pier...@warhol.org
> W www.warhol.org
> W http://members.carnegiemuseums.org
> The Andy Warhol Museum
> One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
>
:
>
>
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com
[mailto:frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com
] On Behalf
Of Adam Hyman
> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 1:43 PM
> To: Experimental Film Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI /
Feb 18 /
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Of course, Gehr's extension of "A Trip Down Market Street" into his EUREKA (by step-printing each frame in original eight times (I believe)) is separate from projection speed; Gehr's EUKEKA is properly run, for the record at 24fps. Notably, this sound/speed silent speed results in other effects than merely slowing down motion or extending time. For example, I can recall Hollis Frampton's ORDINARY MATTER projected at 16fps and noting a very strange clarity and stillness to each frame, which I recognized as possibly the result of a pixilated shooting technique slowed way down. Notably this is a sound film, with sound played "double system" (i.e. not on a mag track). Similarly, in a film like Ken Jacobs' TOM TOM...—created, it is worth noting by filming a film as it is projected (i.e. not optically or contact printed—am I wrong about this?) the pulsing projection (at 16fps, or 18 if you must) places the pulsing projection as a subject of the film. Another well-known proponent of "silent speed" is of course Nathaniel Dorsky, who shoots his own films at a variety of camera speeds but almost always dictates a projection speed of 18fps. Hearing him speak in the late '90s when presenting selections from Stan Brakhage's ARABIC NUMERAL series (which, until Dorsky convinced him otherwise were always screened at 24fps), Dorsky discussed how 18fps placed the films at the "threshold of flicker" and introduced intimation of instability into the visual experience. He has since said as much about his own decision to present his films at this speed. Note well that the perceptual/physiological experience of viewing a film projected in this manner is completely different from viewing a step-printed film projected at 24fps. Steve Polta --- On Mon, 2/13/12, John Matturri wrote: From: John Matturri Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects To: "Experimental Film Discussion List" Date: Monday, February 13, 2012, 11:24 AM Not impossible that there was an offhand, perhaps even sarcastically intended, remark that Mekas repeated or wrote down in his column and which Brakhage just forgot making. Print has an odd power to take slight anecdotes and give them a status beyond their initial intent. (My own remembering, which may be accurate or not, is that Brakhage said that he now saw the point of the film but still was largely unimpressed.) But of course the real issue is whether the shift in projection speed really does have the affect that the anecdote attributes to it. Neither the authority of SB's statement nor his disavowal has all that much relevance to that. Certainly there are instances where such shifts are transformative -- Ernie Gehr's step-printing of the source of Eureka --but it needs to be taken on a case by case basis. I've only seen excerpts of Sleep, so can't judge. j On 2/13/12 2:05 PM, Pierce, Greg wrote: > The essay with the apocryphal story is in Notes After Reseeing the Films of > Andy Warhol by Jonas Mekas. First published in Andy Warhol by John Coplans in > 1970. Reprinted in Andy Warhol Film Factory by Michael O'Pray in 1989. ~ Greg > > ps: More later. > > : > the warhol: > Greg Pierce > Assistant Curator of Film and Video > 117 Sandusky Street > Pittsburgh, PA 15212 > T 412.237.8332 > F 412.237.8340 > E pier...@warhol.org > W www.warhol.org > W http://members.carnegiemuseums.org > The Andy Warhol Museum > One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh > : > > > > > -Original Message- > From: frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com > [mailto:frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of Adam Hyman > Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 1:43 PM > To: Experimental Film Discussion List > Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / > Magic Lantern + RK Projects > > Only you can answer that... > > > On 2/13/12 10:35 AM, "Myron Ort" wrote: > >> In which of the many books scattered around my house did I surely >> encounter that story? >> >> Myron Ort >> >> >> On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Eric Theise wrote: >> >>> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Myron Ort wrote: >>>> How and why do stories like that get started anyway? >>> That particular story got started because Jonas Mekas told it. It >>> continues to be told because it's a good story, and it's lodged in >>> the collective memory due to the problematic but always cited early >>> lite
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Not impossible that there was an offhand, perhaps even sarcastically intended, remark that Mekas repeated or wrote down in his column and which Brakhage just forgot making. Print has an odd power to take slight anecdotes and give them a status beyond their initial intent. (My own remembering, which may be accurate or not, is that Brakhage said that he now saw the point of the film but still was largely unimpressed.) But of course the real issue is whether the shift in projection speed really does have the affect that the anecdote attributes to it. Neither the authority of SB's statement nor his disavowal has all that much relevance to that. Certainly there are instances where such shifts are transformative -- Ernie Gehr's step-printing of the source of Eureka --but it needs to be taken on a case by case basis. I've only seen excerpts of Sleep, so can't judge. j On 2/13/12 2:05 PM, Pierce, Greg wrote: > The essay with the apocryphal story is in Notes After Reseeing the Films of > Andy Warhol by Jonas Mekas. First published in Andy Warhol by John Coplans in > 1970. Reprinted in Andy Warhol Film Factory by Michael O'Pray in 1989. ~ Greg > > ps: More later. > > : > the warhol: > Greg Pierce > Assistant Curator of Film and Video > 117 Sandusky Street > Pittsburgh, PA 15212 > T 412.237.8332 > F 412.237.8340 > E pier...@warhol.org > W www.warhol.org > W http://members.carnegiemuseums.org > The Andy Warhol Museum > One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh > : > > > > > -Original Message- > From: frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com > [mailto:frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of Adam Hyman > Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 1:43 PM > To: Experimental Film Discussion List > Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / > Magic Lantern + RK Projects > > Only you can answer that... > > > On 2/13/12 10:35 AM, "Myron Ort" wrote: > >> In which of the many books scattered around my house did I surely >> encounter that story? >> >> Myron Ort >> >> >> On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Eric Theise wrote: >> >>> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Myron Ort wrote: >>>> How and why do stories like that get started anyway? >>> That particular story got started because Jonas Mekas told it. It >>> continues to be told because it's a good story, and it's lodged in >>> the collective memory due to the problematic but always cited early >>> literature on Warhol's filmmaking. > > ___ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > The information contained in this message and/or attachments is intended only > for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain > confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, > dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this > information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is > prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and > delete the material from any system and destroy any copies. Any views > expressed in this message are those of the individual sender. > ___ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Still not sure which book I saw the story, but I did find this, so the discrediting was in print: Pittsburg Post Gazette, Weekend Mag, Friday, February 6, 1998 Legend has it that Brakhage was watching Warhol’s “Sleep” (which consists of a sleeping person) and hated it. Someone in the room suggested that instead of watching it at 24 frames per second, he slow it down to 16 frames, which is the way it was intended to be seen. At the slower speed, Brakhage allegedly had a change of heart. Brakhage: "It’s a great story, but it’s not true. “I never did like it, It’sinconceivable that I would sit all the way through ‘Sleep.’ I don’t know very many people who have, inclulding Warhol. “My interest in Warhol as a film-maker is that he turned the anthropological camera on his own world with honesty. I think ‘Chelsea Girls’ is wonderful. All of his greatness as a filmmaker is in that film.” On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:42 AM, Adam Hyman wrote: Only you can answer that... On 2/13/12 10:35 AM, "Myron Ort" wrote: In which of the many books scattered around my house did I surely encounter that story? Myron Ort On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Eric Theise wrote: On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Myron Ort wrote: How and why do stories like that get started anyway? That particular story got started because Jonas Mekas told it. It continues to be told because it's a good story, and it's lodged in the collective memory due to the problematic but always cited early literature on Warhol's filmmaking. ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Delete "in" after "is" as you read. Thanks -Original Message- From: frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com [mailto:frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of Pierce, Greg Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 2:05 PM To: Experimental Film Discussion List Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects The essay with the apocryphal story is in Notes After Reseeing the Films of Andy Warhol by Jonas Mekas. First published in Andy Warhol by John Coplans in 1970. Reprinted in Andy Warhol Film Factory by Michael O'Pray in 1989. ~ Greg ps: More later. : the warhol: Greg Pierce Assistant Curator of Film and Video 117 Sandusky Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212 T 412.237.8332 F 412.237.8340 E pier...@warhol.org W www.warhol.org W http://members.carnegiemuseums.org The Andy Warhol Museum One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh : -Original Message- From: frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com [mailto:frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of Adam Hyman Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 1:43 PM To: Experimental Film Discussion List Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects Only you can answer that... On 2/13/12 10:35 AM, "Myron Ort" wrote: > In which of the many books scattered around my house did I surely > encounter that story? > > Myron Ort > > > On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Eric Theise wrote: > >> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Myron Ort wrote: >>> How and why do stories like that get started anyway? >> >> That particular story got started because Jonas Mekas told it. It >> continues to be told because it's a good story, and it's lodged in >> the collective memory due to the problematic but always cited early >> literature on Warhol's filmmaking. ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks The information contained in this message and/or attachments is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any system and destroy any copies. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender. ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
The essay with the apocryphal story is in Notes After Reseeing the Films of Andy Warhol by Jonas Mekas. First published in Andy Warhol by John Coplans in 1970. Reprinted in Andy Warhol Film Factory by Michael O'Pray in 1989. ~ Greg ps: More later. : the warhol: Greg Pierce Assistant Curator of Film and Video 117 Sandusky Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212 T 412.237.8332 F 412.237.8340 E pier...@warhol.org W www.warhol.org W http://members.carnegiemuseums.org The Andy Warhol Museum One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh : -Original Message- From: frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com [mailto:frameworks-boun...@jonasmekasfilms.com] On Behalf Of Adam Hyman Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 1:43 PM To: Experimental Film Discussion List Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects Only you can answer that... On 2/13/12 10:35 AM, "Myron Ort" wrote: > In which of the many books scattered around my house did I surely > encounter that story? > > Myron Ort > > > On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Eric Theise wrote: > >> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Myron Ort wrote: >>> How and why do stories like that get started anyway? >> >> That particular story got started because Jonas Mekas told it. It >> continues to be told because it's a good story, and it's lodged in >> the collective memory due to the problematic but always cited early >> literature on Warhol's filmmaking. ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks The information contained in this message and/or attachments is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any system and destroy any copies. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender. ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Only you can answer that... On 2/13/12 10:35 AM, "Myron Ort" wrote: > In which of the many books scattered around my house did I surely > encounter that story? > > Myron Ort > > > On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Eric Theise wrote: > >> On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Myron Ort wrote: >>> How and why do stories like that get started anyway? >> >> That particular story got started because Jonas Mekas told it. It >> continues to be told because it's a good story, and it's lodged in the >> collective memory due to the problematic but always cited early >> literature on Warhol's filmmaking. ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
In which of the many books scattered around my house did I surely encounter that story? Myron Ort On Feb 13, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Eric Theise wrote: > On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Myron Ort wrote: >> How and why do stories like that get started anyway? > > That particular story got started because Jonas Mekas told it. It > continues to be told because it's a good story, and it's lodged in the > collective memory due to the problematic but always cited early > literature on Warhol's filmmaking. > > --Eric > ___ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
I've always thought they are the AG film version of La Llorona: tales invented
to scare newbies into doing things "correctly."
-JH
From: Myron Ort
To: Experimental Film Discussion List
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic
Lantern + RK Projects
huh, guess I missed that yesterday when I was hurrying out of the house.
How and why do stories like that get started anyway?
On Feb 13, 2012, at 9:55 AM, Fred Camper wrote:
> Quoting Myron Ort :
>
>> ok, I see the problem about the projectors. Guess I am a bit out of
>> touch about that situation these days.
>>
>> I guess I was thinking of that story about Stan Brakhage who
>> apparently did not at all like the film at 24fps, but when he saw it
>> over again at silent speed {presumably 16fps (?) } it was a
>> revelation.
>
> As I wrote in another post in this very same thread, Brakhage always,
> and often angrily, denied that there was any truth to this story. He
> said it never happened.
>
> Fred Camper
> Chicago
>
> ___
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>
___
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Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Myron Ort wrote: > How and why do stories like that get started anyway? That particular story got started because Jonas Mekas told it. It continues to be told because it's a good story, and it's lodged in the collective memory due to the problematic but always cited early literature on Warhol's filmmaking. --Eric ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Fred,
Is that erroneous story actually in print somewhere? I think that may
be how and why I even knew of it, and is this discrediting of the
story also in print somewhere? Probably should be.
Myron Ort
On Feb 13, 2012, at 9:55 AM, Fred Camper wrote:
> Quoting Myron Ort :
>
>> ok, I see the problem about the projectors. Guess I am a bit out of
>> touch about that situation these days.
>>
>> I guess I was thinking of that story about Stan Brakhage who
>> apparently did not at all like the film at 24fps, but when he saw it
>> over again at silent speed {presumably 16fps (?) } it was a
>> revelation.
>
> As I wrote in another post in this very same thread, Brakhage always,
> and often angrily, denied that there was any truth to this story. He
> said it never happened.
>
> Fred Camper
> Chicago
>
> ___
> FrameWorks mailing list
> FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com
> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
>
___
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Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
huh, guess I missed that yesterday when I was hurrying out of the house.
How and why do stories like that get started anyway?
On Feb 13, 2012, at 9:55 AM, Fred Camper wrote:
> Quoting Myron Ort :
>
>> ok, I see the problem about the projectors. Guess I am a bit out of
>> touch about that situation these days.
>>
>> I guess I was thinking of that story about Stan Brakhage who
>> apparently did not at all like the film at 24fps, but when he saw it
>> over again at silent speed {presumably 16fps (?) } it was a
>> revelation.
>
> As I wrote in another post in this very same thread, Brakhage always,
> and often angrily, denied that there was any truth to this story. He
> said it never happened.
>
> Fred Camper
> Chicago
>
> ___
> FrameWorks mailing list
> FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com
> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
>
___
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Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Quoting Myron Ort :
> ok, I see the problem about the projectors. Guess I am a bit out of
> touch about that situation these days.
>
> I guess I was thinking of that story about Stan Brakhage who
> apparently did not at all like the film at 24fps, but when he saw it
> over again at silent speed {presumably 16fps (?) } it was a
> revelation.
As I wrote in another post in this very same thread, Brakhage always,
and often angrily, denied that there was any truth to this story. He
said it never happened.
Fred Camper
Chicago
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Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
ok, I see the problem about the projectors. Guess I am a bit out of
touch about that situation these days.
I guess I was thinking of that story about Stan Brakhage who
apparently did not at all like the film at 24fps, but when he saw it
over again at silent speed {presumably 16fps (?) } it was a
revelation. I would want to see what I think he saw, to see for
myself.
Granted, the difference between 16fps and 18fps would probably not
concern Warhol, but Brakhage may be a different matter. The
difference apparently was enough for the industry to eventually
change over the projectors, and I am sure I could tell the
difference because of the nature of the flicker, not to say it is all
that critical to the upcoming showing, however, the sound is another
issue because then it becomes an expression or aesthetic assertion of
someone other than the artist, unless we have it on record that the
artist said "play my film with whatever sound you want" as part of
his intentions.
Myron Ort
On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:04 PM, David Tetzlaff wrote:
>> But if one is going to the trouble of presenting actual film, why
>> not round up a couple of the correct projectors
>
> Easier said than done. If you're screening with dual projectors for
> reel changes, they ought to have the same brightness and CT lamps
> and the same focal length lenses, no? The folks in Providence have
> figured out their space calls for a 1"lens and a bright (i.e.
> halogen lamp). I'm pretty sure there aren't any projectors with
> halogen lamps that run at 16fps. So where exactly would you go to
> find two 16fps projectors equipped with brand new 1000W
> incandescent lamps and 1" lenses? The Eiki slim-line with the 18/24
> pulley is a rare beast as it is. Eiki SLs came with 50hz/60Hz
> pulleys stock, and the 18/24 pulleys had to be custom ordered.
>
> Josh Guilford put out a post on Frameworks asking to borrow a
> silent speed projector so they could have two projectors for their
> performance. AFAIK, I was the only person who answered the request.
> It wasn't like anybody said, "Hey, the 18fps on your Eiki is too
> fast, but I've got two 16fps projectors you can use instead" or
> "but I know where you can borrow two 16fps projectors." These folks
> have done their best to arrange a screening at 'silent speed', and
> it's just absurd fault them for that being 18fps since thats the
> closest thing they can find.
>
> I also notice that while Nicky vaguely remembers using a 16/24
> projector in the distant past, not one post has identified a
> specific make and model of a projector that will do so, or even a
> specific make and model of projector that runs at 16fps period and
> might be found floating around somewhere.
>
> I have the feeling that a lot of people have projected films at the
> 'silent speed' of their projectors, thinking it was 16fps when it
> was actually 18fps, and never knowing the difference. The
> difference between 16fps and 24fps is a lot: 150%. Between 16 and
> 18 not so much, only an eighth faster.
>
> Of course, if Warhol shot Sleep on his Auricon with the 1200' foot
> mag, then he shot it at 24fps. And if he wanted to project it at
> silent speed to stretch the duration, I'm guessing he was happy to
> take whatever the projectors available to him offered, and he
> wouldn't have given a rat's ass if that was 18fps or 16fps.
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Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
> But if one is going to the trouble of presenting actual film, why not round > up a couple of the correct projectors Easier said than done. If you're screening with dual projectors for reel changes, they ought to have the same brightness and CT lamps and the same focal length lenses, no? The folks in Providence have figured out their space calls for a 1"lens and a bright (i.e. halogen lamp). I'm pretty sure there aren't any projectors with halogen lamps that run at 16fps. So where exactly would you go to find two 16fps projectors equipped with brand new 1000W incandescent lamps and 1" lenses? The Eiki slim-line with the 18/24 pulley is a rare beast as it is. Eiki SLs came with 50hz/60Hz pulleys stock, and the 18/24 pulleys had to be custom ordered. Josh Guilford put out a post on Frameworks asking to borrow a silent speed projector so they could have two projectors for their performance. AFAIK, I was the only person who answered the request. It wasn't like anybody said, "Hey, the 18fps on your Eiki is too fast, but I've got two 16fps projectors you can use instead" or "but I know where you can borrow two 16fps projectors." These folks have done their best to arrange a screening at 'silent speed', and it's just absurd fault them for that being 18fps since thats the closest thing they can find. I also notice that while Nicky vaguely remembers using a 16/24 projector in the distant past, not one post has identified a specific make and model of a projector that will do so, or even a specific make and model of projector that runs at 16fps period and might be found floating around somewhere. I have the feeling that a lot of people have projected films at the 'silent speed' of their projectors, thinking it was 16fps when it was actually 18fps, and never knowing the difference. The difference between 16fps and 24fps is a lot: 150%. Between 16 and 18 not so much, only an eighth faster. Of course, if Warhol shot Sleep on his Auricon with the 1200' foot mag, then he shot it at 24fps. And if he wanted to project it at silent speed to stretch the duration, I'm guessing he was happy to take whatever the projectors available to him offered, and he wouldn't have given a rat's ass if that was 18fps or 16fps. ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
In 2001, San Francisco Cinematheque screened the "full length" SLEEP in a gallery (not a cinema) on the Oakland CA campus of the California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts), with the show beginning at midnight and running (as it turned out) until 5:30am. Folding chairs (along with snacks, etc) were provided but attendees were also encouraged to bring bean bag chairs, futons, etc and stretch out. And someone (not me) had the idea to float star-shaped silver mylar pillow/balloons in the room as something of a Warholian homage. Immediately when the image hit the wall (and it was BIG), the monumentality of the film became apparent (at least to me). And at some point maybe 60 minutes into it some attendees tried to subvert the experience by tearing through the space, running and yelling and sort of bashing those floating pillow/balloons around. It was very impressive the way the film, in its austerity and majesty, resisted this intervention and kept to its discrete interiority, like a noble sculpture. The film's ability to endure and outlast was only one facet of its inspirational character. The only music played at this screening was (an excerpt of) La Monte Young's "The Well-Tuned Piano," which was slowly faded up as the film concluded as a gentle way to wake those who had fallen asleep. Steve Polta --- On Sun, 2/12/12, Myron Ort wrote: From: Myron Ort Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects To: "Experimental Film Discussion List" Date: Sunday, February 12, 2012, 3:03 PM I only mentioned Youtube because it is standard fare there for misinformed folks to put all kinds of soundtracks on say Dog Star Man. Not saying there is any comparison between the quality of the visuals. But if one is going to the trouble of presenting actual film, why cater to the Youtube "audience", why not round up a couple of the correct projectors and advertise it as an authentic experience as intended by the maker.\What I am comparing is the "pandering" aspect. On Feb 12, 2012, at 2:35 PM, Damon wrote: While this presentation of Sleep certainly differs from the original screenings of the film, it is also far from a Youtube hommage. Vexations played an important role in Warhol's conception of the film, and he took from Satie a working method making possible the editing of his short reels into a lengthy film. Sorry I don't have time at the moment to unpack this point as I'm running out the door, but here is a link to some supporting literature to this position: http://www.warholstars.org/news/johncage.html Damon S. On Feb 12, 2012, at 5:29 PM, Myron Ort wrote: So 18fps plus sound. Not so much an homage to Warhol as an homage to Youtube! LOL. At least with Youtube you can turn off the sound. No sets of ear plugs can do that as completely, and sometimes the bass from the speakers hits you in the gut anyway and creates a whole other unwanted experience even with earplugs. That is how I was forced to sit though the Sistiaga hand painted film with atrocious noise. Echh! One of the worst cinema experiences of my life. Myron Ort On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:06 AM, Josh Guilford wrote: R.K. Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema Present a very special screening of: SLEEP by Andy Warhol featuring John Giorno 5.5hr long-form cinema projected on 16mm film w/ a performance of Erik Satie's, Vexations (1893) by Sakiko Mori, Daryl Seaver and XSV @ 6:15pm Saturday February 18th from 6pm - 2am 40 Rice Street Providence 02907 Andy Warhol, Sleep, 1963, 16mm film, b/w, silent, 5 hours and 21 minutes @16fps ©2012 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum “What is sleep, after all, but the metabolic transformation of the entire experience of time, our nightly release from the clock’s prison…” - Stephen Koch Sleep harbors a potential to alter the temporal fabric of our world. What would it mean to live the time of sleep while awake, to collectively activate its other temporality in a pocket of space and sleep awake together? If sleeping together amounts to “sharing an inertia, an equal force that maintains the two bodies together,” then the stillness of sleep may paradoxically give way to a journey, with bodies “drifting like… narrow boats moving off to the same open sea, toward the same horizon always concealed afresh in mists…”1 Magic Lantern Cinema and RK Projects have collaborated to present an off-site screening of Andy Warhol’s 5.5hr anti-film – Sleep. The first film that Warhol made after purchasing a 16mm camera in 1963, Sleep began as an experiment to document an activity that the amphetamine-induced en
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
I only mentioned Youtube because it is standard fare there for misinformed folks to put all kinds of soundtracks on say Dog Star Man. Not saying there is any comparison between the quality of the visuals. But if one is going to the trouble of presenting actual film, why cater to the Youtube "audience", why not round up a couple of the correct projectors and advertise it as an authentic experience as intended by the maker. \What I am comparing is the "pandering" aspect. On Feb 12, 2012, at 2:35 PM, Damon wrote: While this presentation of Sleep certainly differs from the original screenings of the film, it is also far from a Youtube hommage. Vexations played an important role in Warhol's conception of the film, and he took from Satie a working method making possible the editing of his short reels into a lengthy film. Sorry I don't have time at the moment to unpack this point as I'm running out the door, but here is a link to some supporting literature to this position: http://www.warholstars.org/news/johncage.html Damon S. On Feb 12, 2012, at 5:29 PM, Myron Ort wrote: So 18fps plus sound. Not so much an homage to Warhol as an homage to Youtube! LOL. At least with Youtube you can turn off the sound. No sets of ear plugs can do that as completely, and sometimes the bass from the speakers hits you in the gut anyway and creates a whole other unwanted experience even with earplugs. That is how I was forced to sit though the Sistiaga hand painted film with atrocious noise. Echh! One of the worst cinema experiences of my life. Myron Ort On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:06 AM, Josh Guilford wrote: R.K. Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema Present a very special screening of: SLEEP by Andy Warhol featuring John Giorno 5.5hr long-form cinema projected on 16mm film w/ a performance of Erik Satie's, Vexations (1893) by Sakiko Mori, Daryl Seaver and XSV @ 6:15pm Saturday February 18th from 6pm - 2am 40 Rice Street Providence 02907 Andy Warhol, Sleep, 1963, 16mm film, b/w, silent, 5 hours and 21 minutes @16fps ©2012 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum “What is sleep, after all, but the metabolic transformation of the entire experience of time, our nightly release from the clock’s prison…” - Stephen Koch Sleep harbors a potential to alter the temporal fabric of our world. What would it mean to live the time of sleep while awake, to collectively activate its other temporality in a pocket of space and sleep awake together? If sleeping together amounts to “sharing an inertia, an equal force that maintains the two bodies together,” then the stillness of sleep may paradoxically give way to a journey, with bodies “drifting like… narrow boats moving off to the same open sea, toward the same horizon always concealed afresh in mists…”1 Magic Lantern Cinema and RK Projects have collaborated to present an off-site screening of Andy Warhol’s 5.5hr anti-film – Sleep. The first film that Warhol made after purchasing a 16mm camera in 1963, Sleep began as an experiment to document an activity that the amphetamine-induced energy of the 1960s seemed to be rendering obsolete. Yet Warhol’s film is not simply a documentary, but an erotic milieu for ruminating the philosophical implications of time and repetition, as well as a physical meditation on the non-narrative materiality of film itself. Warhol completed the film after his experience attending John Cage’s 1963 performance of Erik Satie’s epically repetitive work for piano, Vexations, (1893) – a 52-beat segment played slowly and in succession 840 times. The repetitive structure of Vexations is apparent in Sleep as well: recorded as a series of long takes using 100 ft. magazines (approx. 3 mins) shot from multiple angles over a period of several weeks, the shots were then repeated through loop-printing and spliced together end-to-end, with emulsion and perforations left as-is. And though the entire film was shot at sound speed (24fps), it was meant to be projected at silent speed (16 or 18fps), causing movements to appear in an ethereal slow-motion. The result is a highly constructed piece of minimalist long-form cinema whose emphasis on time, materiality, repetition, and the quotidian has drawn comparisons to modernist painting while also earning Warhol a position as “the major precursor of structural film” and a 1964 Independent Film Award for “taking cinema back to its origins.”2 Sleep premiered in New York City’s Gramercy Arts Theater in 1963. But the film’s extreme stillness and duration have been said to promote a more casual and intermittent approach to spectatorship than that affiliated with theatrical exhibition, encouraging viewers to “chat during the screening, leave
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
what part of LOL do you not On Feb 12, 2012, at 2:35 PM, Damon wrote: While this presentation of Sleep certainly differs from the original screenings of the film, it is also far from a Youtube hommage. Vexations played an important role in Warhol's conception of the film, and he took from Satie a working method making possible the editing of his short reels into a lengthy film. Sorry I don't have time at the moment to unpack this point as I'm running out the door, but here is a link to some supporting literature to this position: http://www.warholstars.org/news/johncage.html Damon S. On Feb 12, 2012, at 5:29 PM, Myron Ort wrote: So 18fps plus sound. Not so much an homage to Warhol as an homage to Youtube! LOL. At least with Youtube you can turn off the sound. No sets of ear plugs can do that as completely, and sometimes the bass from the speakers hits you in the gut anyway and creates a whole other unwanted experience even with earplugs. That is how I was forced to sit though the Sistiaga hand painted film with atrocious noise. Echh! One of the worst cinema experiences of my life. Myron Ort On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:06 AM, Josh Guilford wrote: R.K. Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema Present a very special screening of: SLEEP by Andy Warhol featuring John Giorno 5.5hr long-form cinema projected on 16mm film w/ a performance of Erik Satie's, Vexations (1893) by Sakiko Mori, Daryl Seaver and XSV @ 6:15pm Saturday February 18th from 6pm - 2am 40 Rice Street Providence 02907 Andy Warhol, Sleep, 1963, 16mm film, b/w, silent, 5 hours and 21 minutes @16fps ©2012 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum “What is sleep, after all, but the metabolic transformation of the entire experience of time, our nightly release from the clock’s prison…” - Stephen Koch Sleep harbors a potential to alter the temporal fabric of our world. What would it mean to live the time of sleep while awake, to collectively activate its other temporality in a pocket of space and sleep awake together? If sleeping together amounts to “sharing an inertia, an equal force that maintains the two bodies together,” then the stillness of sleep may paradoxically give way to a journey, with bodies “drifting like… narrow boats moving off to the same open sea, toward the same horizon always concealed afresh in mists…”1 Magic Lantern Cinema and RK Projects have collaborated to present an off-site screening of Andy Warhol’s 5.5hr anti-film – Sleep. The first film that Warhol made after purchasing a 16mm camera in 1963, Sleep began as an experiment to document an activity that the amphetamine-induced energy of the 1960s seemed to be rendering obsolete. Yet Warhol’s film is not simply a documentary, but an erotic milieu for ruminating the philosophical implications of time and repetition, as well as a physical meditation on the non-narrative materiality of film itself. Warhol completed the film after his experience attending John Cage’s 1963 performance of Erik Satie’s epically repetitive work for piano, Vexations, (1893) – a 52-beat segment played slowly and in succession 840 times. The repetitive structure of Vexations is apparent in Sleep as well: recorded as a series of long takes using 100 ft. magazines (approx. 3 mins) shot from multiple angles over a period of several weeks, the shots were then repeated through loop-printing and spliced together end-to-end, with emulsion and perforations left as-is. And though the entire film was shot at sound speed (24fps), it was meant to be projected at silent speed (16 or 18fps), causing movements to appear in an ethereal slow-motion. The result is a highly constructed piece of minimalist long-form cinema whose emphasis on time, materiality, repetition, and the quotidian has drawn comparisons to modernist painting while also earning Warhol a position as “the major precursor of structural film” and a 1964 Independent Film Award for “taking cinema back to its origins.”2 Sleep premiered in New York City’s Gramercy Arts Theater in 1963. But the film’s extreme stillness and duration have been said to promote a more casual and intermittent approach to spectatorship than that affiliated with theatrical exhibition, encouraging viewers to “chat during the screening, leave for a hamburger and return, [or] greet friends [while] the film serenely devolve[s] up there on the screen.”3 In an effort to cultivate such an experience and acknowledge Warhol’s diverse experiments with non-theatrical exhibition forms (from the Factory walls to live multimedia performances), this screening will be held in a vacant, slumbering warehouse at 40 Rice St., generously donated by The Armory Revival Co. in Providence,
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
While this presentation of Sleep certainly differs from the original screenings of the film, it is also far from a Youtube hommage. Vexations played an important role in Warhol's conception of the film, and he took from Satie a working method making possible the editing of his short reels into a lengthy film. Sorry I don't have time at the moment to unpack this point as I'm running out the door, but here is a link to some supporting literature to this position: http://www.warholstars.org/news/johncage.html Damon S. On Feb 12, 2012, at 5:29 PM, Myron Ort wrote: So 18fps plus sound. Not so much an homage to Warhol as an homage to Youtube! LOL. At least with Youtube you can turn off the sound. No sets of ear plugs can do that as completely, and sometimes the bass from the speakers hits you in the gut anyway and creates a whole other unwanted experience even with earplugs. That is how I was forced to sit though the Sistiaga hand painted film with atrocious noise. Echh! One of the worst cinema experiences of my life. Myron Ort On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:06 AM, Josh Guilford wrote: R.K. Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema Present a very special screening of: SLEEP by Andy Warhol featuring John Giorno 5.5hr long-form cinema projected on 16mm film w/ a performance of Erik Satie's, Vexations (1893) by Sakiko Mori, Daryl Seaver and XSV @ 6:15pm Saturday February 18th from 6pm - 2am 40 Rice Street Providence 02907 Andy Warhol, Sleep, 1963, 16mm film, b/w, silent, 5 hours and 21 minutes @16fps ©2012 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum “What is sleep, after all, but the metabolic transformation of the entire experience of time, our nightly release from the clock’s prison…” - Stephen Koch Sleep harbors a potential to alter the temporal fabric of our world. What would it mean to live the time of sleep while awake, to collectively activate its other temporality in a pocket of space and sleep awake together? If sleeping together amounts to “sharing an inertia, an equal force that maintains the two bodies together,” then the stillness of sleep may paradoxically give way to a journey, with bodies “drifting like… narrow boats moving off to the same open sea, toward the same horizon always concealed afresh in mists…”1 Magic Lantern Cinema and RK Projects have collaborated to present an off-site screening of Andy Warhol’s 5.5hr anti-film – Sleep. The first film that Warhol made after purchasing a 16mm camera in 1963, Sleep began as an experiment to document an activity that the amphetamine-induced energy of the 1960s seemed to be rendering obsolete. Yet Warhol’s film is not simply a documentary, but an erotic milieu for ruminating the philosophical implications of time and repetition, as well as a physical meditation on the non- narrative materiality of film itself. Warhol completed the film after his experience attending John Cage’s 1963 performance of Erik Satie’s epically repetitive work for piano, Vexations, (1893) – a 52-beat segment played slowly and in succession 840 times. The repetitive structure of Vexations is apparent in Sleep as well: recorded as a series of long takes using 100 ft. magazines (approx. 3 mins) shot from multiple angles over a period of several weeks, the shots were then repeated through loop- printing and spliced together end-to-end, with emulsion and perforations left as-is. And though the entire film was shot at sound speed (24fps), it was meant to be projected at silent speed (16 or 18fps), causing movements to appear in an ethereal slow- motion. The result is a highly constructed piece of minimalist long-form cinema whose emphasis on time, materiality, repetition, and the quotidian has drawn comparisons to modernist painting while also earning Warhol a position as “the major precursor of structural film” and a 1964 Independent Film Award for “taking cinema back to its origins.”2 Sleep premiered in New York City’s Gramercy Arts Theater in 1963. But the film’s extreme stillness and duration have been said to promote a more casual and intermittent approach to spectatorship than that affiliated with theatrical exhibition, encouraging viewers to “chat during the screening, leave for a hamburger and return, [or] greet friends [while] the film serenely devolve[s] up there on the screen.”3 In an effort to cultivate such an experience and acknowledge Warhol’s diverse experiments with non-theatrical exhibition forms (from the Factory walls to live multimedia performances), this screening will be held in a vacant, slumbering warehouse at 40 Rice St., generously donated by The Armory Revival Co. in Providence, RI. To mark this significant event, there will also be a staging of the musical pe
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
So 18fps plus sound. Not so much an homage to Warhol as an homage to Youtube! LOL. At least with Youtube you can turn off the sound. No sets of ear plugs can do that as completely, and sometimes the bass from the speakers hits you in the gut anyway and creates a whole other unwanted experience even with earplugs. That is how I was forced to sit though the Sistiaga hand painted film with atrocious noise. Echh! One of the worst cinema experiences of my life. Myron Ort On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:06 AM, Josh Guilford wrote: R.K. Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema Present a very special screening of: SLEEP by Andy Warhol featuring John Giorno 5.5hr long-form cinema projected on 16mm film w/ a performance of Erik Satie's, Vexations (1893) by Sakiko Mori, Daryl Seaver and XSV @ 6:15pm Saturday February 18th from 6pm - 2am 40 Rice Street Providence 02907 Andy Warhol, Sleep, 1963, 16mm film, b/w, silent, 5 hours and 21 minutes @16fps ©2012 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum “What is sleep, after all, but the metabolic transformation of the entire experience of time, our nightly release from the clock’s prison…” - Stephen Koch Sleep harbors a potential to alter the temporal fabric of our world. What would it mean to live the time of sleep while awake, to collectively activate its other temporality in a pocket of space and sleep awake together? If sleeping together amounts to “sharing an inertia, an equal force that maintains the two bodies together,” then the stillness of sleep may paradoxically give way to a journey, with bodies “drifting like… narrow boats moving off to the same open sea, toward the same horizon always concealed afresh in mists…”1 Magic Lantern Cinema and RK Projects have collaborated to present an off-site screening of Andy Warhol’s 5.5hr anti-film – Sleep. The first film that Warhol made after purchasing a 16mm camera in 1963, Sleep began as an experiment to document an activity that the amphetamine-induced energy of the 1960s seemed to be rendering obsolete. Yet Warhol’s film is not simply a documentary, but an erotic milieu for ruminating the philosophical implications of time and repetition, as well as a physical meditation on the non- narrative materiality of film itself. Warhol completed the film after his experience attending John Cage’s 1963 performance of Erik Satie’s epically repetitive work for piano, Vexations, (1893) – a 52-beat segment played slowly and in succession 840 times. The repetitive structure of Vexations is apparent in Sleep as well: recorded as a series of long takes using 100 ft. magazines (approx. 3 mins) shot from multiple angles over a period of several weeks, the shots were then repeated through loop-printing and spliced together end-to-end, with emulsion and perforations left as- is. And though the entire film was shot at sound speed (24fps), it was meant to be projected at silent speed (16 or 18fps), causing movements to appear in an ethereal slow-motion. The result is a highly constructed piece of minimalist long-form cinema whose emphasis on time, materiality, repetition, and the quotidian has drawn comparisons to modernist painting while also earning Warhol a position as “the major precursor of structural film” and a 1964 Independent Film Award for “taking cinema back to its origins.”2 Sleep premiered in New York City’s Gramercy Arts Theater in 1963. But the film’s extreme stillness and duration have been said to promote a more casual and intermittent approach to spectatorship than that affiliated with theatrical exhibition, encouraging viewers to “chat during the screening, leave for a hamburger and return, [or] greet friends [while] the film serenely devolve[s] up there on the screen.”3 In an effort to cultivate such an experience and acknowledge Warhol’s diverse experiments with non- theatrical exhibition forms (from the Factory walls to live multimedia performances), this screening will be held in a vacant, slumbering warehouse at 40 Rice St., generously donated by The Armory Revival Co. in Providence, RI. To mark this significant event, there will also be a staging of the musical performance that inspired the film. Three Providence-based musicians will be conducting a 45 minute performance of Erik Satie’s Vexations immediately preceding the screening. In addition, a selection of relevant reading materials will be on display at the screening. Refreshments will be provided along with chairs, but viewers can enter and exit at will, and sleeping bags are strongly encouraged. Join us for an evening of Sleep. SUGGESTED DONATIONS SLIDING SCALE: $3 - $5 Funded by the Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Culture and Media Studies Brown University RK Projects
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Hi all-- Quick correction. We are indeed projecting the film at 18fps, as David noted in a previous post (thanks David). According to warholstars.org, this makes the runtime for SLEEP approximately 4hrs and 45mins, as opposed to 5hrs 21mins at 16fps.(http://www.warholstars.org/filmch/sleep.html) Very sorry for the confusion the write-up should have specified this. Best, Josh From: Myron Ort To: Experimental Film Discussion List Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2012 4:31 PM Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects I always thought that the dual speed 16mm projectors were 24fps and 16fps. 18fps was a speed on the Super 8 projectors and dual 8/S8 projectors. Was sound speed for S8/reg.8mm also 24fps? I think it was, but not sure now. I am quite sure that silent speed was 16 fps back when, at least that is what I believed and still believe. My 16mm Bolex has 16fps in red (the only speed so designated), but also has an 18fps speed, along with 24,32,64, and 12fps. Of course the variable speed projectors of the earlier generation gave you all kind of choice including burning up your films. and my hand crank 35mm full frame lunchbox cameras have whatever I want, or a somewhat crazy spring wind too. I was out the other night filming the stars with the hand crank using bizarre micro slow motion mime skills until I froze and had to be carried further north closer to the equator to thaw outnever mindI was thinking of Pablo. Interesting idea though , now that I think of it. The slowest hand crank film of all time. So many unrealized cinematic possibilities racing against the total demise of the medium.I guess we are all up against that. I think there was at least one old 35mm movie camera way back that could actually crank backwards.. the problem usually is that there is no "take up" tension when you crank backwards for more than a foot or so... I am still experimenting On Feb 12, 2012, at 11:10 AM, David Tetzlaff wrote: >> Never mind. It looks like they are projecting at 16fps. >> excellent. > > Actually, they're projecting it at 18fps. They have an Eiki with a > silent speed pulley, which runs at 18fps, and they're borrowing my > Pageant 250S for the second projector, which also has a silent > speed of 18fps. (I've checked the manuals for both of them. Graflex > dual speed models also run at 18fps and 24fps.) > > Now, before actually CHECKING this stuff, I had always thought > 16fps was the proper speed for 16mm silent, and that the silent > speed on a Pageant was 16fps. > > So does anyone on the list know more about this? Were the old, old > silent-speed-only 16mm projectors 16fps, and did they change it to > 18 to make projectors that could switch speeds more practical, or > something like that? Does it have anything to do with 18fps being > set as the speed for Super-8? Were there ever dual speed projectors > that ran at 16fps and 24fps? Or has it always been 18fps for > silent, and somehow Myron and I have suffered from some collective > 16fps illusion? > > just curious... > ___ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
With older 16mm projectors, such as Bell & Howell and Pageant, the "silent" switch meant 16fps. Not sure why some newer ones did 18fps instead. Super-8 offered 18 and 24 though; maybe it was to be consistent with that? I agree with Steve that playing Satie during "Sleep" sounds like a mistake. Their aesthetics were in my opinion quite different, and even if their aesthetics were compatible, that doesn't mean one should experience them together. I have an old article on "Sleep" at http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-lovers-gaze/Content?oid=902142 This makes the case that it is not some kind of neo-Dada hoax, but a film by a "lover"... Quoting Eli Horwatt : > A funny story about the correct projection speed from Kelly M. Cresap's *Pop, > Trickster, Fool: Warhol Performs Naivete: * > > Stan Brakhage, a pioneer in underground cinema, became enraged on > seeing *Sleep > *and *Eat*, declaring that they were the work of a charlatan. On learning > that he had seen the films projected at twenty-four frames per second > instead of Warhol's preferred rate of sixteen-frames, he agreed to watch > the films again and then hailed them as transformative works on par with > his own. Brakhage always said this story was a complete fabrication. It made him angry. It's hard to imagine he was not telling the truth. At any event in later years he did not regard Warhol's work as "transformative." Don't believe everything you read Fred Camper Chicago ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
I always thought that the dual speed 16mm projectors were 24fps and 16fps. 18fps was a speed on the Super 8 projectors and dual 8/S8 projectors. Was sound speed for S8/reg.8mm also 24fps? I think it was, but not sure now. I am quite sure that silent speed was 16 fps back when, at least that is what I believed and still believe. My 16mm Bolex has 16fps in red (the only speed so designated), but also has an 18fps speed, along with 24,32,64, and 12fps. Of course the variable speed projectors of the earlier generation gave you all kind of choice including burning up your films. and my hand crank 35mm full frame lunchbox cameras have whatever I want, or a somewhat crazy spring wind too. I was out the other night filming the stars with the hand crank using bizarre micro slow motion mime skills until I froze and had to be carried further north closer to the equator to thaw outnever mindI was thinking of Pablo. Interesting idea though , now that I think of it. The slowest hand crank film of all time. So many unrealized cinematic possibilities racing against the total demise of the medium.I guess we are all up against that. I think there was at least one old 35mm movie camera way back that could actually crank backwards.. the problem usually is that there is no "take up" tension when you crank backwards for more than a foot or so... I am still experimenting On Feb 12, 2012, at 11:10 AM, David Tetzlaff wrote: >> Never mind. It looks like they are projecting at 16fps. >> excellent. > > Actually, they're projecting it at 18fps. They have an Eiki with a > silent speed pulley, which runs at 18fps, and they're borrowing my > Pageant 250S for the second projector, which also has a silent > speed of 18fps. (I've checked the manuals for both of them. Graflex > dual speed models also run at 18fps and 24fps.) > > Now, before actually CHECKING this stuff, I had always thought > 16fps was the proper speed for 16mm silent, and that the silent > speed on a Pageant was 16fps. > > So does anyone on the list know more about this? Were the old, old > silent-speed-only 16mm projectors 16fps, and did they change it to > 18 to make projectors that could switch speeds more practical, or > something like that? Does it have anything to do with 18fps being > set as the speed for Super-8? Were there ever dual speed projectors > that ran at 16fps and 24fps? Or has it always been 18fps for > silent, and somehow Myron and I have suffered from some collective > 16fps illusion? > > just curious... > ___ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
It's my understanding that "back in the day" silent speed was 16fps because this is what the projectors ran. I don't know why. But you always see "16fps" identified with avant-garde silents from the '60s—Warhol films, early Gehr films, TOM TOM... etc. Anyone able to make a comparison would be able to determine that there is a physiological difference between the two speeds, he slower being more "flickery" which is a reason (I've been told) that 16fps was preferred. The funny thing about this nominal difference in regards to the full-length SLEEP is that the cumulative difference of all these 2fps/second x the full length of the film is a 30 minute reduction in running time (5.5 hours vs. 6 hrs.). Easy math but quite a surprise when the screening of this film is "suddenly" over 30 minutes early. The full-length SLEEP (even sped up at 18fps) is indeed a masterpiece, one of the most profound viewing experiences of my life. To be honest, I worry that the Satie would be a distraction but I wish you luck with the event...! Steve Polta --- On Sun, 2/12/12, David Tetzlaff wrote: From: David Tetzlaff Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects To: "Experimental Film Discussion List" Date: Sunday, February 12, 2012, 11:10 AM > Never mind. It looks like they are projecting at 16fps. > excellent. Actually, they're projecting it at 18fps. They have an Eiki with a silent speed pulley, which runs at 18fps, and they're borrowing my Pageant 250S for the second projector, which also has a silent speed of 18fps. (I've checked the manuals for both of them. Graflex dual speed models also run at 18fps and 24fps.) Now, before actually CHECKING this stuff, I had always thought 16fps was the proper speed for 16mm silent, and that the silent speed on a Pageant was 16fps. So does anyone on the list know more about this? Were the old, old silent-speed-only 16mm projectors 16fps, and did they change it to 18 to make projectors that could switch speeds more practical, or something like that? Does it have anything to do with 18fps being set as the speed for Super-8? Were there ever dual speed projectors that ran at 16fps and 24fps? Or has it always been 18fps for silent, and somehow Myron and I have suffered from some collective 16fps illusion? just curious... ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
When I was a student in the 1970s we had a dual speed 16-24 projector, but I don't remember if it was an Eiki / Elf or a B&H. Obviously there's a relationship between 16 and 24, Nicky Hamlyn. -Original Message- From: David Tetzlaff To: Experimental Film Discussion List Sent: Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:10 Subject: Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects > Never mind. It looks like they are projecting at 16fps. > excellent. Actually, they're projecting it at 18fps. They have an Eiki with a silent speed pulley, which runs at 18fps, and they're borrowing my Pageant 250S for the second projector, which also has a silent speed of 18fps. (I've checked the manuals for both of them. Graflex dual speed models also run at 18fps and 24fps.) Now, before actually CHECKING this stuff, I had always thought 16fps was the proper speed for 16mm silent, and that the silent speed on a Pageant was 16fps. So does anyone on the list know more about this? Were the old, old silent-speed-only 16mm projectors 16fps, and did they change it to 18 to make projectors that could switch speeds more practical, or something like that? Does it have anything to do with 18fps being set as the speed for Super-8? Were there ever dual speed projectors that ran at 16fps and 24fps? Or has it always been 18fps for silent, and somehow Myron and I have suffered from some collective 16fps illusion? just curious... ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
> Never mind. It looks like they are projecting at 16fps. > excellent. Actually, they're projecting it at 18fps. They have an Eiki with a silent speed pulley, which runs at 18fps, and they're borrowing my Pageant 250S for the second projector, which also has a silent speed of 18fps. (I've checked the manuals for both of them. Graflex dual speed models also run at 18fps and 24fps.) Now, before actually CHECKING this stuff, I had always thought 16fps was the proper speed for 16mm silent, and that the silent speed on a Pageant was 16fps. So does anyone on the list know more about this? Were the old, old silent-speed-only 16mm projectors 16fps, and did they change it to 18 to make projectors that could switch speeds more practical, or something like that? Does it have anything to do with 18fps being set as the speed for Super-8? Were there ever dual speed projectors that ran at 16fps and 24fps? Or has it always been 18fps for silent, and somehow Myron and I have suffered from some collective 16fps illusion? just curious... ___ FrameWorks mailing list FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
Never mind. It looks like they are projecting at 16fps. excellent. mo On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:06 AM, Josh Guilford wrote: R.K. Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema Present a very special screening of: SLEEP by Andy Warhol featuring John Giorno 5.5hr long-form cinema projected on 16mm film w/ a performance of Erik Satie's, Vexations (1893) by Sakiko Mori, Daryl Seaver and XSV @ 6:15pm Saturday February 18th from 6pm - 2am 40 Rice Street Providence 02907 Andy Warhol, Sleep, 1963, 16mm film, b/w, silent, 5 hours and 21 minutes @16fps ©2012 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum “What is sleep, after all, but the metabolic transformation of the entire experience of time, our nightly release from the clock’s prison…” - Stephen Koch Sleep harbors a potential to alter the temporal fabric of our world. What would it mean to live the time of sleep while awake, to collectively activate its other temporality in a pocket of space and sleep awake together? If sleeping together amounts to “sharing an inertia, an equal force that maintains the two bodies together,” then the stillness of sleep may paradoxically give way to a journey, with bodies “drifting like… narrow boats moving off to the same open sea, toward the same horizon always concealed afresh in mists…”1 Magic Lantern Cinema and RK Projects have collaborated to present an off-site screening of Andy Warhol’s 5.5hr anti-film – Sleep. The first film that Warhol made after purchasing a 16mm camera in 1963, Sleep began as an experiment to document an activity that the amphetamine-induced energy of the 1960s seemed to be rendering obsolete. Yet Warhol’s film is not simply a documentary, but an erotic milieu for ruminating the philosophical implications of time and repetition, as well as a physical meditation on the non- narrative materiality of film itself. Warhol completed the film after his experience attending John Cage’s 1963 performance of Erik Satie’s epically repetitive work for piano, Vexations, (1893) – a 52-beat segment played slowly and in succession 840 times. The repetitive structure of Vexations is apparent in Sleep as well: recorded as a series of long takes using 100 ft. magazines (approx. 3 mins) shot from multiple angles over a period of several weeks, the shots were then repeated through loop-printing and spliced together end-to-end, with emulsion and perforations left as- is. And though the entire film was shot at sound speed (24fps), it was meant to be projected at silent speed (16 or 18fps), causing movements to appear in an ethereal slow-motion. The result is a highly constructed piece of minimalist long-form cinema whose emphasis on time, materiality, repetition, and the quotidian has drawn comparisons to modernist painting while also earning Warhol a position as “the major precursor of structural film” and a 1964 Independent Film Award for “taking cinema back to its origins.”2 Sleep premiered in New York City’s Gramercy Arts Theater in 1963. But the film’s extreme stillness and duration have been said to promote a more casual and intermittent approach to spectatorship than that affiliated with theatrical exhibition, encouraging viewers to “chat during the screening, leave for a hamburger and return, [or] greet friends [while] the film serenely devolve[s] up there on the screen.”3 In an effort to cultivate such an experience and acknowledge Warhol’s diverse experiments with non- theatrical exhibition forms (from the Factory walls to live multimedia performances), this screening will be held in a vacant, slumbering warehouse at 40 Rice St., generously donated by The Armory Revival Co. in Providence, RI. To mark this significant event, there will also be a staging of the musical performance that inspired the film. Three Providence-based musicians will be conducting a 45 minute performance of Erik Satie’s Vexations immediately preceding the screening. In addition, a selection of relevant reading materials will be on display at the screening. Refreshments will be provided along with chairs, but viewers can enter and exit at will, and sleeping bags are strongly encouraged. Join us for an evening of Sleep. SUGGESTED DONATIONS SLIDING SCALE: $3 - $5 Funded by the Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Culture and Media Studies Brown University RK Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema 40 Rice Street Providence, RI 02907 1 Jean-Luc Nancy, The Fall of Sleep (New York: Fordham UP, 2009): 19. 2 P. Adams Sitney, Visionary Film (New York: Oxford UP, 2002): 349; Film Culture 33 (Summer 1964): 1. 3 Stephen Koch, Stargazer: The Life, World and Films of Andy Warhol (New York: Marion Boyars, 1991): 39. // RK PROJEC
Re: [Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
I hope they know to project this film at silent speed. Otherwise the film makes no sense. Myron Ort On Feb 12, 2012, at 10:06 AM, Josh Guilford wrote: R.K. Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema Present a very special screening of: SLEEP by Andy Warhol featuring John Giorno 5.5hr long-form cinema projected on 16mm film w/ a performance of Erik Satie's, Vexations (1893) by Sakiko Mori, Daryl Seaver and XSV @ 6:15pm Saturday February 18th from 6pm - 2am 40 Rice Street Providence 02907 Andy Warhol, Sleep, 1963, 16mm film, b/w, silent, 5 hours and 21 minutes @16fps ©2012 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum “What is sleep, after all, but the metabolic transformation of the entire experience of time, our nightly release from the clock’s prison…” - Stephen Koch Sleep harbors a potential to alter the temporal fabric of our world. What would it mean to live the time of sleep while awake, to collectively activate its other temporality in a pocket of space and sleep awake together? If sleeping together amounts to “sharing an inertia, an equal force that maintains the two bodies together,” then the stillness of sleep may paradoxically give way to a journey, with bodies “drifting like… narrow boats moving off to the same open sea, toward the same horizon always concealed afresh in mists…”1 Magic Lantern Cinema and RK Projects have collaborated to present an off-site screening of Andy Warhol’s 5.5hr anti-film – Sleep. The first film that Warhol made after purchasing a 16mm camera in 1963, Sleep began as an experiment to document an activity that the amphetamine-induced energy of the 1960s seemed to be rendering obsolete. Yet Warhol’s film is not simply a documentary, but an erotic milieu for ruminating the philosophical implications of time and repetition, as well as a physical meditation on the non- narrative materiality of film itself. Warhol completed the film after his experience attending John Cage’s 1963 performance of Erik Satie’s epically repetitive work for piano, Vexations, (1893) – a 52-beat segment played slowly and in succession 840 times. The repetitive structure of Vexations is apparent in Sleep as well: recorded as a series of long takes using 100 ft. magazines (approx. 3 mins) shot from multiple angles over a period of several weeks, the shots were then repeated through loop-printing and spliced together end-to-end, with emulsion and perforations left as- is. And though the entire film was shot at sound speed (24fps), it was meant to be projected at silent speed (16 or 18fps), causing movements to appear in an ethereal slow-motion. The result is a highly constructed piece of minimalist long-form cinema whose emphasis on time, materiality, repetition, and the quotidian has drawn comparisons to modernist painting while also earning Warhol a position as “the major precursor of structural film” and a 1964 Independent Film Award for “taking cinema back to its origins.”2 Sleep premiered in New York City’s Gramercy Arts Theater in 1963. But the film’s extreme stillness and duration have been said to promote a more casual and intermittent approach to spectatorship than that affiliated with theatrical exhibition, encouraging viewers to “chat during the screening, leave for a hamburger and return, [or] greet friends [while] the film serenely devolve[s] up there on the screen.”3 In an effort to cultivate such an experience and acknowledge Warhol’s diverse experiments with non- theatrical exhibition forms (from the Factory walls to live multimedia performances), this screening will be held in a vacant, slumbering warehouse at 40 Rice St., generously donated by The Armory Revival Co. in Providence, RI. To mark this significant event, there will also be a staging of the musical performance that inspired the film. Three Providence-based musicians will be conducting a 45 minute performance of Erik Satie’s Vexations immediately preceding the screening. In addition, a selection of relevant reading materials will be on display at the screening. Refreshments will be provided along with chairs, but viewers can enter and exit at will, and sleeping bags are strongly encouraged. Join us for an evening of Sleep. SUGGESTED DONATIONS SLIDING SCALE: $3 - $5 Funded by the Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Culture and Media Studies Brown University RK Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema 40 Rice Street Providence, RI 02907 1 Jean-Luc Nancy, The Fall of Sleep (New York: Fordham UP, 2009): 19. 2 P. Adams Sitney, Visionary Film (New York: Oxford UP, 2002): 349; Film Culture 33 (Summer 1964): 1. 3 Stephen Koch, Stargazer: The Life, World and Films of Andy Warhol (New York: Marion Boyars, 1991): 39. //
[Frameworks] Andy Warhol's SLEEP / Providence, RI / Feb 18 / Magic Lantern + RK Projects
R.K. Projects + Magic Lantern CinemaPresent a very special screening of: SLEEP by Andy Warhol featuring John Giorno 5.5hr long-form cinema projected on 16mm film w/ a performance of Erik Satie's, Vexations (1893) by Sakiko Mori, Daryl Seaver and XSV @ 6:15pm Saturday February 18th from 6pm - 2am 40 Rice Street Providence 02907 Andy Warhol, Sleep, 1963, 16mm film, b/w, silent, 5 hours and 21 minutes @16fps ©2012 The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. Film still courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum “What is sleep, after all, but the metabolic transformation of the entire experience of time, our nightly release from the clock’s prison…” - Stephen Koch Sleep harbors a potential to alter the temporal fabric of our world. What would it mean to live the time of sleep while awake, to collectively activate its other temporality in a pocket of space and sleep awake together? If sleeping together amounts to “sharing an inertia, an equal force that maintains the two bodies together,” then the stillness of sleep may paradoxically give way to a journey, with bodies “drifting like… narrow boats moving off to the same open sea, toward the same horizon always concealed afresh in mists…”1 Magic Lantern Cinema and RK Projects have collaborated to present an off-site screening of Andy Warhol’s 5.5hr anti-film – Sleep. The first film that Warhol made after purchasing a 16mm camera in 1963, Sleep began as an experiment to document an activity that the amphetamine-induced energy of the 1960s seemed to be rendering obsolete. Yet Warhol’s film is not simply a documentary, but an erotic milieu for ruminating the philosophical implications of time and repetition, as well as a physical meditation on the non-narrative materiality of film itself. Warhol completed the film after his experience attending John Cage’s 1963 performance of Erik Satie’s epically repetitive work for piano, Vexations, (1893) – a 52-beat segment played slowly and in succession 840 times. The repetitive structure of Vexations is apparent in Sleep as well: recorded as a series of long takes using 100 ft. magazines (approx. 3 mins) shot from multiple angles over a period of several weeks, the shots were then repeated through loop-printing and spliced together end-to-end, with emulsion and perforations left as-is. And though the entire film was shot at sound speed (24fps), it was meant to be projected at silent speed (16 or 18fps), causing movements to appear in an ethereal slow-motion. The result is a highly constructed piece of minimalist long-form cinema whose emphasis on time, materiality, repetition, and the quotidian has drawn comparisons to modernist painting while also earning Warhol a position as “the major precursor of structural film” and a 1964 Independent Film Award for “taking cinema back to its origins.”2 Sleep premiered in New York City’s Gramercy Arts Theater in 1963. But the film’s extreme stillness and duration have been said to promote a more casual and intermittent approach to spectatorship than that affiliated with theatrical exhibition, encouraging viewers to “chat during the screening, leave for a hamburger and return, [or] greet friends [while] the film serenely devolve[s] up there on the screen.”3 In an effort to cultivate such an experience and acknowledge Warhol’s diverse experiments with non-theatrical exhibition forms (from the Factory walls to live multimedia performances), this screening will be held in a vacant, slumbering warehouse at 40 Rice St., generously donated by The Armory Revival Co. in Providence, RI. To mark this significant event, there will also be a staging of the musical performance that inspired the film. Three Providence-based musicians will be conducting a 45 minute performance of Erik Satie’s Vexations immediately preceding the screening. In addition, a selection of relevant reading materials will be on display at the screening. Refreshments will be provided along with chairs, but viewers can enter and exit at will, and sleeping bags are strongly encouraged. Join us for an evening of Sleep. SUGGESTED DONATIONS SLIDING SCALE: $3 - $5 Funded by the Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Culture and Media Studies Brown University RK Projects + Magic Lantern Cinema 40 Rice Street Providence, RI 02907 1 Jean-Luc Nancy, The Fall of Sleep (New York: Fordham UP, 2009): 19. 2 P. Adams Sitney, Visionary Film (New York: Oxford UP, 2002): 349; Film Culture 33 (Summer 1964): 1. 3 Stephen Koch, Stargazer: The Life, World and Films of Andy Warhol (New York: Marion Boyars, 1991): 39. // RK PROJECTS │Providence │ rkprojects.com │ More info on Facebook Unsubscribe / Powered by YMLP
