[Frameworks] 2. Re: What are the 3 Essential Films that you would show Artists on their first foray into the Moving Image Realm ?

[Gene Youngblood]

The original question is so absurd that I almost didn’t respond, but i did, only to make the point that, within such a restricted frame, you don’t start with specific films, you start with possibilities: Isn’t it exciting that you can make an “abstract” work, or a minimal one, or you can compose an essay? What do those words mean? How have artists interpreted them? And isn’t it exciting that you can combine all of them, which is the thin edge of the interventionist wedge today. Another point: mid-century isn’t synonymous with Modernism; it’s 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, “want to kill themselves.” No one who is truly “curious” and “excited” would have such a response. It’s 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 <andy at 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 <swfreyer at vcu.edu <mailto:swfreyer at 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
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> ‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡
> 
> Sasha Waters Freyer
> Chair, Department of Photography & Film
> VCU School of the Arts
> 325 N. Harrison St. / PO Box 843088
> Richmond, VA 23284
> 
> tel. 804.828.2162 <>
> email: swfreyer at vcu.edu <mailto:swfreyer at vcu.edu>
> http://www.arts.vcu.edu/photofilm/ <>
> _______________________________________________
> FrameWorks mailing list
> FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com <mailto:FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com>
> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks <https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Andy Ditzler
> www.filmlove.org <http://www.filmlove.org/>
> www.johnq.org <http://www.johnq.org/>
> Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts, Emory University
> _______________________________________________
> FrameWorks mailing list
> FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com <mailto:FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com>
> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks <https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/pipermail/frameworks/attachments/20150329/db55b94c/attachment.html>