Aaron Cavanagh – 3D

3D
3D (2009, 52 MB, 1:42 min)

I taught Aaron Cavanagh last year at Teesside University.
I don’t know whether he’s still making video but anyone
who can make stuff as viscerally exhilarating
as this certainly should be.
Couple more from Teesside next week.

Ed Day – Hats

Hats
Hats (2009, 123 MB, 10:54 min)

A first film from young UK actor Ed Day this made me laugh quite inordinately.
It was “was filmed over a few weeks in Jersey and Guernsey with the cast from
Oddsocks Theatre Company’s 2009 summer tour of Richard III”.

Apart from the humour what strikes home is the sheer technical ability,
wit and

Brantley Jones – Dead Plants

Dead Plants
Dead Plants (2009, 36 MB, 1:24 min)

Another from the seemingly inexhaustible (but always pleasantly individual)
film seam at the School of Athens.
This is a lovely understated little study of ..er..dead plants, which fuses quirk,
a certain menace and a strange found beauty into something very satisfying.
Brantley Jones seems to live a double life – his website contains much more
“well made” stuff.
It will be interesting to see where he heads, eventually.

PS Also, how can you not warm to someone who lists the late great
David Foster Wallace as inspiration?

A Sad Loss

voting
Voting (2008, 37.2MB, 13:37)

We’re deeply sad to have to report the untimely death on Sunday of
Millie Niss, at the age of 36.
Anyone fortunate enough to have met her, either online or in person,
will have been struck by the combination of razor sharp intelligence,
a glorious sense of humour and personal kindness with a sense of utter
puzzlement at pomposity, bullshitting or self-agrandisement.
She just didn’t get the latter three.

In recent years, working in close collaboration with her mother, Martha Deed
she brought us the wonderful Sporkworld Microblog,
something that always felt to me that rarity, the invention
of a new form (or at least an unprecedentedly deep and
thorough realisation of the possibilities of a new medium,
effectively the same thing.)
It’s uncool to the deepest degree, being about domesticity,
illness, food, birds and animals glimpsed from a car or house window,
the life of a small blue-collar town -its problems and its festivals- and so much more,
but then cool -being a facade- was a concept lost on Millie and that’s why I
treasure all the more this beautiful work and I mourn her loss
as an artist, as a friend and as a marvellous human being.

We send our deepest condolences to Millie’s family but in particular to Martha.

As a small tribute we post once again their short collaborative film about Millie’s
attempt to deal with the absentee ballot form in last year’s presidential election.

4 from Littlewhile

littlewhile1
Tuilleries (2005, 480KB, 6 sec.)

littlewhile
Star (2005, 692KB, 9 sec.)

littlewhile22
Divining (2005, 2.1MB, 30 sec.)

littlewhile44
Window (2005, 1MB, 14 sec.)

A few gems from Littlewhile, a vlog (no longer with us)
which featured non-fiction clips.

Dieter Roth

dieter_roth1
Dot (1960, 223KB, 40 sec.)

dieter_roth2
Letter (1962, 1MB, 26 sec.)

Two films by the late Dieter Roth.

Donna Kuhn Blown Away Rose

Blown Away Rose
Blown Away Rose (2009, 48 MB, 2:06 min)

We’ve observed before how wonderfully productive
Donna Kuhn makes her relatively restricted lexicon
of images ( OK Greek Professors! -I know there’s a problem with that expression
but it does, and I don’t know what the image equivalent of lexicon is.)
Side by side with this she cautiously introduces new elements, which I look
forward to seeing her work over in her inimitable way during the course of her next few movies.
Latest is the landscape of New Mexico.
That makes me want to visit; the video as a whole makes me want to squeal with
delight.

Sebastian Hernandez – DIY or Die #3 – A Month of Sundays

A Month of Sundays
A Month of Sundays (2009, 65 MB, 4:54 min)

Last &, in my view, the best of Sebastian Hernandez’ DIY or Die
series of documentaries, which we’ve been delighted to
be able to feature here in the past few weeks.
I found them all well made, engaging and informative.
This one I also found profoundly moving.
We look forward to featuring more of Sebastian’s work
in the not too distant future.

42 New Briggate – a film & a call for work

Untitled 1, 2 and 3 (Bullet Series)
Untitled 1, 2 and 3 (Bullet Series) (2007, 4 MB, 40 secs)

Rather splendid film by Steven Allbutt shown as part of a film showcase
in 2007 at the 42 New Briggate Gallery in Leeds, UK.
Apart from the piece’s intrinsic merits I had said to curator Yvonne Carmichael
we’d post her call for short films to be projected in the gallery window
Dec 2009 -Feb 2010 if she sent me a nice QuickTime we could also post here.
She did & so here it is – please consider submitting something!

Data Moshing with Eddie Whelan

caralion
caralion (2009, 10 MB, 1:03 min)

metalbear
METALBEAR (2009, 11 MB, 44 secs)

atlasbear
atlas bear (2009, 9 MB, 54 secs)

There’s a wonderful strangeness and abandon to Eddie Whelan’s work.
Here he indulges in some rather winning datamoshing.
It all looks garishly gorgeous but the icing for me is his choice
and use of music/sound, which resonates very effectively with the visuals.
The lion piece, in particular, seems to me to be deeply melancholy, lovely
and pretty funny, all at the same time.

Two from Rick Silva

Colorado
Colorado (2008, 93 MB, 8:41 min)

Massif
Massif (2009, 142 MB, 110:13 min)

Continuing a line of thought, of work, which seemed to begin with
his 2007 piece A Rough Mix Rick Silva creates two new pieces
in the wholly original style he has forged over the past few years.
(Contemplate those last words – it’s a rare claim to be able to make)
The two big themes seem to be landscape/environment & various
remixing practices ( of which Silva, of course, under various pseudonyms,
is a we-are-not-worthy master).
Thre’s a lot of greatly well-intentioned and almost equally dull “environmental” art
around, it being so zeitgeisty and all, but if this is how is could be
I want more.
Big downloads but, even if you’re on a slowish connection, well worth the wait.
(The movies here are obviously compressed & reduced in size -I would love to see them
full on in a gallery context!)

Interior Footage with Canine

Interior Footage with Canine
Interior Footage with Canine (2009, 13 MB, 57 secs)

Exquisite Lumière from the ever reliable, ever astonishing, Sam Renseiw
at spacetwo : patalab.

Mobile Research Station no.1

10365282
10365282 (2009, 1 MB, 14 sec)

10366629
10366629 (2009, 7 MB, 1:26 min)

Here’s the blurb:

In a wilderness at the heart of Berlin a strange apparition has landed. Simon Faithfull

Brian Gibson – to the young, youth

torc
to the young, youth (195?/2008, 13 MB, 2:04 min)

Poignant & beautiful work from DVblog contributor Brian Gibson
gently & quirkily re-configuring footage shot by his late grandfather
on a European visit in the 50s.

Brian’s work is always striking, always affecting, but the secret extra
ingredient is the luminous intelligence underlying everything he does.

Sebastian Hernandez – DIY or Die #2 – Ladyfest

torc
Ladyfest (2009, 46 MB, 4:39 min)

Second in Sebastian Hernandez’ neat documentary series on DIY/alternative lifestyles.
I like the genuine respect & empathy Hernandez shows for his subjects, which doesn’t,
however, preclude honest & three dimensional film-making.
Once again Hernandez’ technical skills are evident (But not in a look at me! kind of way)
In particular I love the jumpy camera work/edit in the second interview, which manages to be
aesthetically pleasing without detracting from the actual substance of the interview – indeed
it adds to it.
Looking forward very much to seeing the third!

Dom Cheverti – Throwing Chamberlains

bowl
Bowl (2009, 2 MB, 1:52 min)

bowl/glass
Bowl/Glass (2009, 2 MB, 1:01 min)

bowl/flower/vase
Bowl/Flower/Vase (2009, 3 MB, 57 secs)

little river
Little River (2009, 2 MB, 1:00 min)

Recommended to us by the sublime Sam Renseiw who,
when he speaks, we listen.
Nonetheless I had some difficulties in coming to grips with this.
Sam tells me it relates to some current You Tube thing whereby people
throw ping-pong balls into various receptacles with a high degree of accuracy.

Clearly I should stay in more.

So…in this case the balls are substituted by a species of cookie, apparently
known in Denmark as ‘chamberlains’.
(I asked Sam exactly what a chamberlain was.
He says:
“Chamberlains is an odd translation of ‘kammerjunker’ that
can both be a chamberlain and danish cookie/biscuit.
It is usually consumed in summer with “koldsk

Kissin’

torc
Kissin’ (2009, 29 MB, 2:11 min)

Doing what it says on the tin (unless you were anticipating a Russian concert pianist),
a vid both charming & solidly made from Shawn Kornhauser & Nick Sullivan
which somehow transcends its premise –“A Video About Being Young” ,
which it clearly is, but it feels like they’ve captured more &
this has something to do with the subtle, but nonetheless
crucial, use of sound which really opens the whole thing out.

Sebastian Hernandez –Truth or Consequences

torc
Truth or Consequences (2009, 90 MB, 10:03 min)

Very nicely made and engaging documentary, first of three,
all of which we hope to feature here, by Sebastian Hernandez,
amply fulfilling earlier promise.
Technically this work is even more assured.
I have to say personally I preferred the politics of his earlier work.
(Not that I assume Hernandez views are necessarily to be identified with
those of his subjects, so, to put it better, I preferred the folks
in the earlier movies)

There’s more context here.

Regina C

videocat
Video Cat (2009, 11 MB, 1:34 min)

videocat
Aguas De Maio (2009, 9 MB, 1:19 min)

Two videos from earlier this year by Regina C

2 from Regina Célia Pinto


Mirrors (2008, 76.9MB, 4:32 min)


Broadway (2008, 11.5MB, 50 secs)

Two pieces from Brazilian artist Regina Célia Pinto

Lobo Pasolini – ‘One Man Show’

One Man Show
One Man Show (1991, 7MB, 52 sec.)

Award winning video from 1991 by Antonio (Lobo) Pasolini,
video maker & journalist.

March Madness at the DC Training Facility

Bball
Bball (2006, 8.6MB, 1:28 min)

Commerce meets art. Maybe.
Actually if you wear the shoes you can really do all that.
No..er..really.
From DC shoe.

Eddie Whelan #3


Gold Medal Match (2009, 58.5MB 1:32 min)

Original editorial

A Game of Petanque with Sam Renseiw

patafilm718
Patafilm 718 (2009, 30.9 MB, 2:40 min)

The Petanque Discussion
The Petanque Discussion (2009, 9.8 MB, 53 secs)

All his work is great but we can’t publish him every day
so we wait for the very finest.
Two Petanque themed beauties, the second
being a Lumière masterclass.

Robert Croma – Night Impromptu

patafilm718
Night Impromptu (2009, 50.9 MB, 5:19 min)

Despite being a very fine still photographer there’s something
paradoxically counter-photographic about Robert Croma’s
video work
.

Of course, as one would expect from a photographer, he’s extremely
sensitive to finish and the care which is lavished on the working over
of each of his movies is humbling and astonishing but what struck me,
getting this post ready, is how difficult it is to extract a poster image from
these that really prepares us for the coming movie as movie.
(Believe me – mostly this is not so hard, so many people semaphore
from every frame)
Then it further struck me that this a mark of the most profound cinematic
thinking, that despite the pieces’ great visual beauties they are conceived
austerely, with the greatest economy & most of all holistically; that is, entirely
at the level of the final moving image.
Of course here, as so often with Croma, finally it’s also a very moving image.

Poems for Pictopia

poems_for_pictopia
Poems for Pictopia(2009, 83.5 MB, 8:00 min)

Deft & winsome documentary from Gabriel Shalom
(whose own very deft work DVblog regulars will
have come across before) and Patrizia Kommerell
featuring goings-on and personalities from this year’s
Pictoplasma in Berlin.

Sondheim/Carter/Foofwa


involuntaries #4 (2009, 68.4MB 7:35 min)

Love all Sondheim’s stuff but particularly the dance work.
Here he is with Azure Carter & the jaw-dropping Foofwa d’Imobilité.
Extremely odd & extremely wonderful.
There’s lots more of these on Foofwa’s site ,
all well worth checking out.
( Plus a Foofwa conducted interview with the late Merce Cunningham)

Olga Panedes Massenet – City of Fear


City of Fear (2008, 118MB 4:13 min)

Tad.. er.. earnest & a bit Burroughs lite at moments,
but gripping to watch, moves along nicely and clearly the work
of someone with serious skills, strong visual sense and something to say.
The green slime section must’ve been fun to do.
More here.

Florian Cramer – Floppy Films


nkdlunch (2009, 1:24MB 2:44 min)


coraria (2009, 1:35MB 2:09 min)

Ultimately, personally, I admire these more than I like them.
It’s clever/witty stuff, no doubt, squeezing sections of films,
or mash-ups thereof, down to the size of the old floppies
but you just feel it pretty much stops there. Is there much
to actually watch/engage with & if there is, how much of this
arises from the original material before the conceptual
shenanigans commence?
This is especially marked in ‘Coraria’, which feels entirely
parasitic upon John Cage and upon the tremendous performance &
photogenic qualities of Cora Schmeiser.
Hmm. You decide.

[There’s a more detailed ( & sympathetic!) account here
& you can buy the pieces on floppy, should you feel so moved, here]

South and mobile to the house of Mina


South and mobile to the house of Mina (2009, 31MB 3:18 min)

From DVblog’s own Doron Golan, this is simply stunning.
What I find so exciting is that Doron combines here
(and I haven’t spoken to him about this piece so I don’t know
whether he himself sees it this way) his fascinating & often intense
recent studies in image manipulation with something of the improvisatory
quality & narrative forward motion of earlier pieces.

In a world where so much work is predicatable and safe, what a delight
& what a tonic for the head and heart both, to see work that stretches out
like this and which so resolutely rejects the safe, the dull, the glib & the banal.