Reading Response #4

2. Look up “Fluxus” and any of the Fluxus artists in the index of Visionary Film. Why are they not there? Are the Fluxfilms compatible with Sitney’s central argument about the American avant-garde?
Sitney doesn’t think that Fluxus fits into his central argument/definition of American avant-garde. He thinks that Fluxus filmmaker’s practices are too laissez faire to be considered as artists attempting to represent the human mind.

3. Chapter 4. What are some of the reasons suggested for Smith’s obsession with Maria Montez? What are some of your responses to the clips from the Montez films (especially Cobra Woman)?
He thought that Montez was the quintessential drag queen. She is very exotic.

4. Chapter 5. What were some attributes of the New York art community in the 1960s, and what was the relationship between the economics of the time and the materials that Smith incorporated in to his work and films? [How could Smith survive and make art if he was so poor in the city so big they named it twice?]
They were breaking away from/fighting against squareville/Levitt town American conformity. Lots of artists didn’t have much money and Jack Smith was one of them. He made dumpster diving a frequent activity in order to collect the necessary attributes of his mise-en-scene.

5. Chapter 6. What problems emerged after the obscenity charges against Flaming Creatures in the relationship between Jack Smith and Jonas Mekas? What metaphor emerged from the conflict between Smith and Mekas?
Smith thought that Mekas was exploiting Flaming Creatures’s censorship press for money instead of art. Lobsterism merged from the conflict between Smith and Mekas. It means that someone takes something that is not his own and exploits it selfishly.

6. Chapter 7. What is John Zorn’s argument about Normal Love? How does his argument relate to some of the changes in the New York art world in the 1960s that we discussed in class? What are some arguments made about the influence of Jack Smith on other filmmakers (including Warhol)?
To Zorn, the making of the film was the art of the film. The finished product as a commodity was not what he sought; it was the experience of making the film.

7. Chapter 9 and 10: In what ways did Jack Smith become “uncommercial film personified”? What is meant by the slogan, “no more masterpieces” and how did Smith resist commodification (or the production of art products)?
Smith fought mass-distribution and commodification by creating unfinished works and often completing them while they were being exhibited. If he never officially completed a film or project then it could never be a masterpiece, or if the piece was changed each time it was shown, it would have no permanence and without permanence, you can’t have a final masterpiece.

Callie Angell, “Andy Warhol, Filmmaker”
[I have emailed part one of this article to the class, it is not on reserve.]
8. How does Angell characterize the first major period of Warhol’s filmmaking career? What are some of the films from this period, and what formal qualities did they share? What are some significant differences between Sleep and Empire?
Warhol evolved and explored styles in his first major period – he used more hand-held camera shots and what-not, opposed to his later style of not touching the camera or editing the film. Sleep and Empire both use long durations of time as style but Sleep is edited and uses hand-held camera while Empire is not edited and uses fixed camera position.

9. What role did the Screen Tests play in the routines at the Factory and in Warhol’s filmmaking?
Warhol got to practice with light and framing techniques. The Screen Tests were also like moving portraits – similar to the portraits he produced in the 70s and 80s of famous people.

10. How does Angell characterize the first period of sound films in Warhol’s filmmaking career? Who was Warhol’s key collaborator for the early sound films? What are some of the films from this period and what formal properties did they share?
The sound film are characterized by the start of Warhol’s fascination with capturing reality in front of the camera. Ronald Tavel was his main collaborator. Films like Vinyl from this period showcase Warhol’s methods of non-editing and capturing the reality of performance.