Apr
17
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An
evening with Tony Conrad
Filmforum is honored to host Tony Conrad at this special screening, in
conjunction with a series of events in Los Angeles this week.
The Flicker (1966, 16mm, B&W, sound, 30 min.)
The Flicker is an etude in flicker polyrhythm. It was a founding work
in the “structuralist film” movement. The film’s hypnotic
and trance-inducing visual qualities are enhanced by a radical electronic
soundtrack.
The Eye of Count Flickerstein (1967, revised 1975, 16mm, B&W,
silent, 7 minutes).
The sustained dead gaze of black-and-white TV “snow,” captured
in 1965 and twisted sideways, draws the viewer hypnotically into an abstract
visual jungle.
4-X Attack (1973, 16mm, B&W, silent, 2 min.)
A machine gun film roll of 4-X negative film was exposed using pressure
(hammering) and was flashed in its exploded physical configuration.
Articulation of Boolean Algebra for Film Opticals (1975, 16mm
film, B&W, sound, 10 min. excerpt of 75 min. original)
Articulation of Boolean Algebra for Film Opticals is one of the most austere
and highly structure-dependent films ever, made without images other than
six patterns of alternating black and white imposed upon the full surface
of the film strip.
In Line (1985, video, 7 min.)
A trisection of the spectator's power over their own image language: word,
trance, and command are installed as valences of the artist's license;
revealed as figures of parental authority.
Hart
(2001, video, 5 minutes), Grading Tips for Teachers (2003, video,
13 min.), Hello Happiness (2000, video, 2 min.), and Tony’s
Oscular Pets (2001, video, 7 min.).
Each of these immediate and ironic short videos echoes Conrad’s
earlier engagement during the 1980s with themes of discipline and control;
but here the regulated subjects have been removed. The teacher has papers
but not students; the lover supplements only himself; the pets are invisible.
There is certainly a recondite side of each story, but we’re having
too much fun to go there.
Tony Conrad teaches video in the University at Buffalo. He was associated
with the founding of both "minimal" music and "underground"
cinema. His film "The Flicker" is a key "structural"
film. His video work has also been widely seen. He performs his music,
primarily for amplified violin, in the US and internationally. In the
early 1990s he worked with several collectives in Buffalo producing work
for public access cable television.
Tony Conrad will also be appearing at the Getty Center with Michael
Snow on April 19 and 20.
Tuesday
April 19, 2005, 7:30 pm - Getty
Center, Harold M. Williams Auditorium
Suspending Time: Sound and Image
Tony Conrad and Michael Snow In Person!
Preeminent Structural filmmakers Conrad and Snow appear in person following
a screening of their films to discuss how they have developed a cinematic
language utilizing motion, space and light, and the tensions of the fixed
frame. Getty Research Institute scholar in residence P. Adams Sitney will
moderate the discussion.
Films to be screened:
Michael Snow: WVLNT (Wavelength For Those Who Don't Have the Time),
See You Later/Au Revoir, The Living Room
Tony Conrad: Duration
Wednesday April 20, 2005, 7:30 pm - Getty
Center, Harold M. Williams Auditorium
Suspending Time: Sound and Image
Tony Conrad and Michael Snow In Concert!
Filmmakers Michael Snow and Tony Conrad are also accomplished musicians.
Snow has been developing his own improvisatory music, solo and in ensembles
since the 1960's. Conrad's compositions are executed in a minimalist style.
In conjunction with a screening of their film work, each will perform
a solo concert exploring aspects of "spontaneous composition"
and sonic environments.
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