Kittens, Biscuits, and Blots: Films by Luther Price (Experimental)

White Light Cinema at The Nightingale - Sunday, 7pm
One way to measure the ability of a songwriter is by how well they turn an apparent personal narrative into a universal human experience. They take what they have lived through (or think they should have) and mold it into words that can explain the hopes and fears of everyone. In an almost perfectly opposite position is the found-object artist, and specifically, the subspecies of the found-footage filmmaker. Their task is to take the scraps of mass media and turn it into their own personal story. Much like there are trite pop songs, there are also many dull found-footage films, where the voice of the filmmaker never comes through the postmodern montage. In the hands of Luther Price, though, unknown industrial films, afterschool specials, and other relics of the recent past create the perfect canvas for him to paint his thoughts and feelings (sometimes literally). Still not as well known as he should be, even within the obscurity that is the Experimental Film community, Price has created a wealth of cinema gems throughout his now almost 30 years of activity. In part, the reason he can sometimes be missed is the difficulty in seeing most of his work – Price almost never makes prints of his films, preferring to show his fragile originals. One creative approach he takes is to paint directly onto found footage (such as in his INKBLOT series) or to bury it in the dirt. In both cases he achieves abstract shapes that roll in rhythms of an energy chaos, ultimately finding new territory. In the BISCUITS series, Price takes documentary footage of elder care and, again, is able to recombine it in ways that seem fresh. Utilizing multiple prints of the same film, he is able to repeat phrases and gestures, and seems to tap into both the happiness of a life long lived and the melancholy of being "put in a home." There is a genuine compassion for his "found" characters; Price avoids exploitation in his re-workings or social commentary on nursing homes in general. The strongest articulation of his editing skill is in KITTENS GROW UP, so simple in its approach, yet powerful in impact. Utilizing long takes, with only a hint of the jarring audio scratches that populate many of Price's films, we go back and forth from a film about kittens learning life-skills to one about young children and their alcoholic father. The metaphor of child and kitten, both alone and scared in the world, is easy enough. The delicate task that is done so well here is using the footage of kittens to darken the mood, not soften it. (2007-08, approx. 95 min total, 16mm) JH - Cine-File.info