Event
CIRCLES OF CONFUSION, a five-screening series of films by Hollis Frampton, part 4
Los Angeles Filmforum and Khastoo Gallery present
CIRCLES OF CONFUSION, a five-screening series of films by Hollis Frampton
Part 4 on January 31 at Filmforum at the Egyptian at 7:30 pm
Details below
In conjunction with Art Los Angeles Contemporary at the Pacific Design Center, January/February 2010
Hollis Frampton (1936-1984) was an American filmmaker, artist and writer who left a legacy of brilliant innovation in avant-garde cinema. His films were challenging and ground breaking explorations in the material properties of the medium, including but not limited to mathematics, the contours of perception and cognition, and the phenomenological nature of the motion picture. Among his best-known works are (nostalgia), Zorns Lemma, and the unfinished epic film cycle Magellan. Although few have seen (or had the opportunity to see) the full extent of his catalog, his reputation as a profound thinker and pioneer predicates the broad influence his work has had on both his peers in the 60s and 70s (from Frank Stella to Carl Andre and Lee Lozano) and artists today, from James Welling and Sharon Lockhart, to Jennifer Steinkamp, and many more. The past few years in particular have witnessed a mounting interest in the Frampton, with important symposiums organized in the states and internationally (Princeton University, 2004; Anthology Film Archives, 2009; Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2009; Chicago, 2010), publications (Rachel Mooreâs study on (nostalgia) and the Bruce Jenkins edited collection of Framptonâs writings, On the Camera Arts and Consecutive Matters: The Writings of Hollis Frampton) as well as a new release of (nostalgia) on DVD (âAmerican Treasures IVâ from the National Film Preservation Foundation). In this retrospective of more than half of his complete catalog of films, audiences are offered an unique glimpse at what made this modernist âthinkerâ so significant to art history and relevant to contemporary practices in film, from pure celluloid to digital and online technologies.
From January 21 to February 7, 2010, there will be five screenings with guest scholars and artists at each program to discuss his works and their influence on later artists.
Among those speaking will be James Welling, artist; Peter Lunenfeld, scholar at UCLA Yvonne Rainer, artist; Erika Vogt, artist; David E. James, film scholar at USC; William E. Jones, artist; Alex Klein, artist and curatorial fellow at LACMA. More to be added!
Sun Jan 31, 7:30 pm â Filmforum at the Egyptian Theater, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90028; lafilmforum@yahoo.com
Process Red (1968, 3:30, silent)
A first attempt to approximate more than one visual modality in a single brief work. Sightings from the retina, optic nerve, cortex. With this small film, I felt that I had got the bit in my teeth.
Carrots and Peas (1969, 5.5 min., sound)
A 'traditional' side-dish of mixed vegetables inhabits a succession of 'traditional' art-styles. The sumptuous, sometimes tiresome paradox of the static image in film, is rudely presented in the form of an art historian's slide-lecture... for which genre of discourse the spoken commentary is of about average relevance to the image.
Lemon (1969, 7.30 min., silent)
As a voluptuous lemon is devoured by the same light that reveals it, its image passes from the spatial rhetoric of illusion into the spatial grammar of the graphic arts.
Surface Tension (1968, 10 min., sound)
"The influence of minimal art (rather the aesthetic of minimal art) on the avant-garde cinema is very great. Most of the important young filmmakers, especially on the East Coast, might be considered minimalists. Certainly Hollis Frampton's SURFACE TENSION is from that milieu. The film itself has three parts: a comic static shot emphasizing the passage of time; a fast motion tour through a city with fractured German commentary; and a slow seascape with fish floating midscreen. In this last section phrases translated from the German commentary are printed over the image. Of all the films seen in this festival, SURFACE TENSION is technically and spiritually the newest." - P. Adams Sitney, Program note, Maryland, 1969.
Palindrome (1969, 22 min., silent)
The menacing latin palindrome 'In Girvm Imvs Nocte Et Consvmimvr Igni' (By night we go (down) into a gyre/and we are consumed by fire) serves as epigraph to this animated film. Anima is imparted to 12 variations on each of 40 congruent phrases, metamorphosed from the chemically mutilated flesh of color film itself. "Hollis, clearly this one of your greatest films! Absolute perfection." -- Stan Brakhage. Internationales Forum des Jungen Films, Berline, 1972
Cadenzas I & XIV (Completed Pts The Birth of Magellan: 14 Cadenas) (1980, 11.25 min,, sound)
"CADENZA I offers up multi-layered references to the primordial, to birth, and to Creation. CADENZA XIV: the laugh track...variously suggests a partially displaced relation to the silent comedy in CADENZA I, a reaction to the blatancy of the sexual symbolism and perhaps even an irreverent reflection on the emotion-laden symbological practice of the poetic tradition of personal filmmaking."--Bruce Jenkins.
Admission for Pacific Design Center and Filmforum screenings: $10 general, $6 students/seniors, free for Filmforum members
Advance ticket purchase available through Brown Paper Tickets, links also found on the Los Angeles Filmforum website, www.lafilmforum.org
For the screenings at the Egyptian Theater:
Parking is now easiest at the Hollywood & Highland complex. Bring your ticket for validation. Parking is $2 for 4 hours with validation. Enter that complex on Highland or Hollywood. The theater is 1.5 blocks east.
For more information on the Art Los Angeles Contemporary at the Pacific Design Center, please visit http://www.artlosangelesfair.com/
Los Angeles Filmforum is the city's longest-running organization screening experimental and avant-garde film and video art, documentaries, and experimental animation. 2010 is our 34th year.
Memberships available, $60 single or $95 dual
Contact us at lafilmforum@yahoo.com. www.lafilmforum.org
Khastoo Gallery was founded in November of 2008 by Leila Khastoo, a Los Angeles native interested in bringing an international academic perspective to the artistic landscape of the city. Shows at Khastoo emphasize the critical content of art and art making, integrating current global viewpoints with an art historical approach to programming. www.khastoo.com
This screening series is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles. Additional support generously provided by the American Cinematheque.
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LocationSpielberg Theater at the Egyptian
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
United States
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| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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