Structural Film

Programme

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  Razor Blades (Paul Sharits, 1968, 25') (double projection)

  Razor Blades follows the tradition of the stroboscopic films which affect our eyes on a physical level, causing an almost hypnotic transference of light from the screen of our minds. However, Sharits explores psychological as well as physical sensations. He seems intent upon going against the grain of our perception and feelings, and we are forced to either stop the flow of images or to dive into them fully with total abandon. If we can do this we find the film deeply satisfying, because it is conceived to break down our defences and then to work on a subconscious level to initiate us into a new level of awareness. (David Beinstock, Whitney Museum)
  
  Sharits applied his work for the legendary experimental film festival Knokke-Le Zoute in 1967.
  
  Restored by Anthology Film Archives, New York.

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  The Flicker (Tony Conrad, 1966, 30')

  The Flicker has been called a sort of visual LSD, including hallucinations, 'the ultimate to date in the nonobjective film.' It has only black and white frames, and the resulting strobe effect can cause the illusion of colour, of a spreading of light, and of lacy patterns. Seeing The Flicker can cause epileptic seizure, the spectator is advised by the film that he views what is coming at his own risk.

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  Wavelength (Michael Snow & Joyce Wieland, 1967, 46')

  A seemingly continuous zoom moves through one room in a New York loft towards the window frontage, beginning at the widest focal length and ending in an extreme close-up. As this movement unfolds, it becomes night and day again several times in the room, a bookshelf is put together and a murder carried out. With his 'time monument', Snow attempts nothing less than to make a definitive statement about pure film space and pure film time, balancing of "illusion" and "fact".
  
  His complex experiment revolutionized international avant-garde film. The fact that Wavelength was “about” the action of the zoom lens, rather than the psychological content provided by most other films, was revolutionary, with critics heralding the beginning of “structural film”. Even the most ordinary space can provide sensory revelations.