One Minute, Volume 4

Dinosaur
Martin Pickles – Dinosaur  (2010, 130 MB, 1:01 min)

1961 Revisited.
Nicki Rolls – 1961 Revisited  (2010, 114 MB, 58 secs)

Two pieces from a touring screening of one minute films,
the fourth such from British filmmaker Kerry Baldry.

It’s a really well put together and gripping hour
(transparency dictates I confess I have a piece in it
but I won’t foist that on you here), with a strike rate well above
most of this kind of compilatation.

Here are two of my favourite pieces; both, in different
ways, little gems of cinematic poetry.
Although Martin Pickle’s piece is amusing there’s
something enchanting about the changing seasonal
landscape & light of West London and how it manifests on screen,
which raises the work from anecdote to something more complicated
and lasting.

The Nicki Rolls piece had me in the palm of its hand within about a second.
(I’m a total sucker for near stillness and for the movement of light)
Then I started to think about what exactly I was watching.
You might like to give it some thought too.
Again, the twist breaks the confines of the one minute form
to resonate long after.

I haven’t see the other three compilations but I hope we could maybe
feature a couple of pieces from each in the not too distant future.

Next week we’ll have a piece by Kerry herself.

William Eggleston – Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961-2008

william_eggleston
William Eggleston interviewed by Michael Almereyda (2009, 61 MB, 5:31 min)

This candid interview with photographer William Eggleston was conducted by film
director Michael Almereyda on the occasion of the opening of Eggleston

John Berryman – Dream Song #14

watchingthem
Dream Song #14 (1967, 8MB, 1:43 min)


Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.
After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns,
we ourselves flash and yearn,
and moreover my mother told me as a boy
(repeatedly) ‘Ever to confess you’re bored
means you have no

Inner Resources.’ I conclude now I have no
inner resources, because I am heavy bored.
Peoples bore me,
literature bores me, especially great literature,
Henry bores me, with his plights & gripes
as bad as achilles,

who loves people and valiant art, which bores me.
And the tranquil hills, & gin, look like a drag
and somehow a dog
has taken itself & its tail considerably away
into mountains or sea or sky, leaving
behind: me, wag.

Another Dream Song.
For details see original post

John Berryman – Dream Song #29

watchingthem
Dream Song #29 (1967, 11MB, 2:20 min)

There sat down, once, a thing on Henry’s heart
s

Nam June Paik – documenta performance

NJP_documenta1977.mov
documenta performance (1977, 6 MB, 1:35 min.)

The 1977 “documenta” show, which became known as the ‘media documenta’,
opened its doors with a live satellite telecast from Kassel.
Nam June Paik appeared together with Charlotte Moorman and used the slot
for a Dadaistic, allusive excursion through his performance and installation works.
from ZKM Videosammlung.

Derek Bailey & Will Gaines

Derek Bailey & Will Gaines #1
clip #1 (1995, 7.6MB, 32 sec.)

Derek Bailey & Will Gaines #2
clip #2 (1995, 3.2MB, 14 sec.)

Derek Bailey & Will Gaines #3
clip #3 (1995, 4.1MB, 17 sec.)

Some lovely footage of the great free improv guitarist Derek Bailey,
who died in 2005, working with be-bop hoofer Will Gaines.
As with so much Bailey did, it seems at first deeply
odd & then, in equal measure, wonderful.
Important to understand this wasn’t some sort of gimmick:
Gaines had known Bailey since the sixties & although much of his
fame was garnered firmly in the mainstream, he has spent a great
deal of time working with cutting edge improvisors.
Enjoy two wonderful artists at the top of their game.
From European Free Improvisation.

Buky Schwartz – 2 illusory videos

buki_schwartz2
videoconstructions2 (1978, 5MB, 1:16 min.)

buki_schwartz1
The Chair (1980, 36MB, 9:54 min.)

Buky Schwartz (1932-2009), an Israeli sculptor and video artist
who passed away last year, was known for his deceptive videos
that interplay between illusory appearance and the actual ‘reality’.
The 2 vids here were exhibited at the Whitney Biennial in New York in 1981.
From the splendid Videoart.net

Markos Vamvakaris sings ‘Atakti’

vamvakaris
Atakti (196?, 11MB, 2:23 min)

Utterly compelling clip from a 1960s German documentary featuring a
spine tingling live performance in a Piraeus taverna by the great
rembetiko singer Markos Vamvakaris.
I could watch & listen all day.

PS I think atakti means ‘bad’ or ‘naughty’

Martha Deed – <em>The Lost Shoe</em>

the lost shoe
The Lost Shoe (2010, 16MB, 4:35 min)

Martha Deed, one of our favourite people, & co-founder with
the much missed Millie Niss of the fantastic Sporkworld Microblog,
which we’ve raved about before & which we can’t recommend too
highly, has a paper publication coming out, a book of poems, for which
she created this chilling and beautifully made video “trailer”.

Watch the trailer then

Vito Acconci #2

Borders
Advice (clip, 2006, 2MB, 58 secs)

Borders
Acconci Studio Presentation (2006, 36MB, 29:02 min)

More from the splendid Vito Acconci, this time from
his later architecture and design period.
One vid is a little lollipop -advice to the young-
extracted from a longer interview and profile on
designboom.com.
The second is a much more substantial
and utterly fascinating presentation given at the launch of
LAB magazine in 2006.
What an astonishing human being!