Lev Manovich – Little Movies #1

manovich #1
Binary Code (1994-98, 2MB, 52 secs)

manovich #2
On the Ephemeral Nature of Little Movies (1994-98, 3MB, 1:05 min)

I mentioned the Manovich Little Movies in the post I did the
other week on Eryk Salvaggio’s ‘Unfinished Mpeg Haiku’.
In the course of writing that I went to Manovich’s site to look at them
& was surprised to find that their page was in some disarray
and the movies themselves had been removed.
Nor could I find them either in the version archived on the Rhizome Artbase.

It seems a shame for them not to be available -they’re historical
(and in many ways amazingly presecient) documents at the least,
although I find them – especially the last one – gripping and touching too.

Then I remembered the wonderful Wayback Machine and I found them
there, all snug and safe and sound.

We’ll post them here in twos in the next week or so,
in the order in which they appeared in Manovich’s
original presentation of them.
Although the image linking to it has been removed from the site
Manovich’s very interesting statement remains.
(I guess if that goes too you’ll still be able to Wayback it)

Eija-Liisa Ahtila – Consolation Service

consolation_service
Consolation Service (1999, 10 MB, 1:43 min.)

“Consolation Service” follows a young Finnish couple, Anni and J-P, as they
make public their decision to divorce. It is set in early spring in Helsinki, with
its frozen landscape on the cusp of thawing.
Consolation service (awarded at the Venice Biennial in 1999) Ahtila also
deconstructs the formation of the narrative and cinematic illusion: as though
in a straight documentary film (Cinéma vérité), both narrator and camera are
shown openly. The illusion of fiction is thus shattered, made visible. The use of
a hand-held shaking camera reminds the group Dogma 95 led by Lars Von Triers.

By Eija-Liisa Ahtila.

Elodie Pong

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Secret 044 (2007, 10 MB, 4:27 min.)

Another secret.
See original post for details.

Elodie Pong

040_215_elodie_pong
Secret 040 (2006, 3 MB, 1:16 min.)

Secret from “Secrets For Sale”, a film which reveals the radical
ADN/ARN experience, an interactive installation addressed to one
person at the time, in which each visitor was invited to confide and
then contractually sell a personal secret.
Project by Elodie Pong.

LOL

lolthemovie
LOL (2005, 4.3MB, 1:24 min.)

A clever trailer for the independent film – LOL.

By Mica Scalin.

Two from The Silver Jews

to the max
to the max (2005, 37.9MB, 3:30 min)

Sleeping is the Only Love
sleeping is the only love (2006, 7.2MB, 2:54 min)

From The Silver Jews.

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price

Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart (2005, 9.4 MB, 2:48 min)

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price was the documentary film sensation
that’s changing the largest company on earth. The film features the
deeply personal stories and everyday lives of families and communities
struggling to survive in a Wal-Mart world.
It’s an emotional journey that will challenge the way you think, feel.. and shop.
Directed by Robert Greenwald.

Deadlock

deadlock
Deadlock (1970, 7.7MB, 46 sec)

from Roland Klick’s Deadlock with music by Can.
Listen to the title track here.
What a remarkable film.
What a remarkable band.

The Split Mirror Syndrome by Martin Murphy

martinmurphy
The Split Mirror Syndrome (2008, 42MB, 6:22 min.)

“Murphy creates a polysemic experience in which visual and
temporal relationships progressively lapse, whereby the viewer is
challenged to willfully choose where to locate themself in relation
to the structure of the work.”

By Martin Murphy. Starring Theodore Bouloukos.

(more splendid acting work from Bouloukos, here)

Two Moon July – David Byrne and Phillip Glass

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David Byrne – Report from L.A. (1986, 49MB, 4:30 min.)

madrush397
Phillip Glass – Mad Rush (1986, 29MB, 3:17 min.)

Both of these pieces, although incredibly different in feel and nature, were
preformed for the “multidisciplinary event” which showcased “experimental
video, film, visual art, performance and music in a theatrical framework”.
Shot at New York City’s infamous Kitchen, and broadcast on television sets
across the states in 1986, the production “reflects a moment when art centers
were experimenting with new modes of presenting the arts for television.”
Read more and see more here.

“More fun than you can shake your stick at”