Event
CIRCLES OF CONFUSION, a five-screening series of films by Hollis Frampton, part 5
Los Angeles Filmforum and Khastoo Gallery present
CIRCLES OF CONFUSION, a five-screening series of films by Hollis Frampton
Part 5
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 February 7, 7:30 pm â Filmforum at the Egyptian
Introduction by David James (USC)
Gloria, 1979, 9.5 min., sound
"In GLORIA! Frampton juxtaposes nineteenth-century concerns with contemporary forms through the interfacing of a work of early cinema with a videographic display of textual material. These two formal components (the film and the texts) in turn relate to a nineteenth-century figure, Frampton's maternal grandmother, and to a twentieth-century one, her grandson (filmmaker Frampton himself). In attempting to recapture their relationship, GLORIA! becomes a somewhat comic, often touching meditation on death, on memory and on the power of image, music and text to resurrect the past."--Bruce Jenkins
Zorns Lemma, 1970, 60 min., sound
"In his most important work to date, and the most original new work of cinema I have seen since Brakhage's Scenes From Under Childhood: Part IV. Frampton's film is an exercise in mathematical logic in cinema. Or is it a mechanical logic?... It's about alphabet. It's about the unities of similarities. It's about sameness in a confusion. It's about logic in chance. Its about structure and logic. It's about rhythm. Ah, what a difference between Zorns Lemma and all the 'serious' commercial movies that I occasionally praise!" -- Jonas Mekas, Village Voice "... the ultimate Frampton film, so far... he looks back on several of the dialogues his earlier films rehearsed: the tension between words on the screen and concrete images arose in SURFACE TENSION, it explodes here; the cyclic repetitive variations of ARTIFICIAL LIGHT, are less repetitive, less varied, than the alphabetic cycles here; ZORNS LEMMA exaggerates the fixed rhythms of PALINDROME and insists upon the pulse of one second with incredible obdurance... ... At a time when radical uniqueness seems progressively less probable, Hollis Frampton has made a film that is absolutely one of its kind." -- P. Adams Sitney, 1970
David James teaches in the School of Cinema-Television at USC. He is the author or editor of several books on independent American film. His most recently published is the acclaimed The Most Typical Avant-Garde: History and Geography of Minor Cinemas in Los Angeles.
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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