Saturday, December 12, 2009

Hollis Frampton: Birth of Magellan (Experimental)

Chicago Filmmakers - Saturday, 8pm               
As the third installment of the ongoing retrospective series CRITICAL MASS: RE-VIEWING HOLLIS FRAMPTON, Chicago Filmmakers will be presenting fragments of the artists' fabled MAGELLAN CYCLE. Intended to consist of 1000 films totaling roughly 36 hours to be viewed over 369 days, it is "like a tour of the possible principles for forming an encyclopedia," according to Frampton. Seen outside of their original context and because of their frequent structural density, the individual pieces are sometimes challenging (though not always), and one can only imagine what the experience of seeing them as short shots of wisdom day after day after day would have been like. It is likely that the casual viewer will have difficulty parsing the subtleties of each piece, but that is only because it is easy to dig too deep to find meaning. But they can be appreciated on many different levels. The simplicity of the structure in CADENZAS I & XIV (1980, 11 min, 16mm) revolves around gentle juxtapositions of sound and image, and a building of meaning from one visual to the next. The trick here is that what looks like a bold sexual metaphor is really a joke about sexual metaphors in poetic filmmaking, complete with laugh track. In MINDFALL I & VII (1977-80, 36 min, 16mm) the visuals are more complex, with groups being repeated and played like alternating chord structures. As they build on one another, and refrains are recognized, the often superimposed and out-of-synch imagery vibrates like a plucked string. From my viewing notes: cactus, tropical plants, ping-pong, water, religious symbols, Geiger counter, three kings, Frampton's shadow, applause. Also screening: MATRIX (1977, 28 min, 16mm) JH - Cine-File.info

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