experimental
10 Jul 2007
BITE
What IS this shit? Some stuffed-shirt museums may fit the portrait of "elitist" arts in the NEA's American Canvas (sic!) report. Or maybe the symphony, opera, dance programs... But the media arts? OUR MEDIA ARTS, that sanctified realm of ideological acuity and radical social commitment in the U.S. since before the NEA even applied a name to this field?
CODE
People experience films differently. Part of the pleasure of viewing certain kinds of films lies in unraveling a secret language or code. At the recent 50th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, where most of the contemporary work presented was avant-garde, a strong issue arose: the divide between experimental and social documentary film.
Are makers of experimental and personal works isolated narcissistic beings, working in codes that are inaccessible to most of us, and constantly reflecting on their existential crises?
MIX
I was infected with the urge to remix by my college film professor, Ken Jacobs, and, over thirty years later, the infection has spread. Collage - the mixing and rearranging of found materials - is informing nearly all my programming this year. The Virginia Festival Film Society s spring 2004 season is titled "SAMPLE THIS!" and our guests include Christian Marclay, Rick Prelinger, and Kevin and Jennifer McCoy. The audience is turning out in large numbers for these experimental programs, and the series has pulled us out of a slump.
