Beautiful and delicate, yet somehow tough, bit of
performative portraiture from 1994 by Eleanor Suess.
I really like the fact her work doesn’t scream look-
at-me-how-clever-I-am but when one does look
carefully, there is art enough to engage,
reward and move.
Category Archives: portraiture
George Spencer films Robert Roth
Robert Roth Reads from ‘Health Proxy’ (2011, 76 MB, 6:30min)
I can’t be objective aboutRobert Roth – he’s a dear friend and his
tremendous & utterly singular book Health Proxy ( Buy it here)
would most definitely be my choice for that desert island.
In this little movie, odd and charming both, by fellow writer
George Spencer, he reads an extract from it, twice.
Joseph Beuys – Soziale Plastik
Soziale Plastik (1969, 9 MB, 1:47 min)
Joseph Beuys accepts the challenge to expose himself to the anonymous spectator,
in speechless close-up on a video monitor: the artist as
A Film About Furtherfield by Pete Gomes
Furtherfield (2011, 103MB, 5:28 min)
Great film about the wonderful UK arts organisation Furtherfield
– you can see & hear me* in it, enthusing further at a couple of points.
Beautifully made by Pete Gomes, it really captures something of
what makes Furtherfield such a big & special deal.
* So let that stand for a full declaration of interest:
I work with them, they’re my friends, they’ve shown
my work – none of which makes any of the nice things
said by me or anyone in the film any less true…
Film by Samuel Beckett with Buster Keaton
Samuel Beckett‘s only venture into the medium of cinema, Film was written
in 1963 and filmed in New York in the summer of 1964, directed by
Alan Schneider and featuring Buster Keaton. For the shooting Mr.
Beckett made his only trip to America. The film, which has no dialogue,
takes its basis Berkeley’s notion esse est percepti that is, to be is to be perceived.
Omer Fast – The Casting
Omer Fast – The Casting (2008, 38 MB, 3:29 min)
Omer Fast, discusses his 2008 Whitney Biennial work, The Casting (2007),
a four-channel video featuring a young American army sergeant who recounts
two stories
The Summer of Van Torre – Human Dog
European Vacation (2005, 25.6 MB, 2:18 min.)
Morning Routine (2005, 44.3 MB, 4:34 min.)
The Summer of Van Torre was hugely popular in 2005 in video blogging circles.
The wepisodes recount the life of Jon VanTorre, each week bringing him closer
to total cardiac arrest with Ether Baths, Spider-Man Nightmares, and Meat Sandwiches.
The series (which began in 2001) was presented online in 05 by Human Dog.
Here is an interview (2005, 67.5 MB, 13 min.) by Josh Leo with writers & directors
Jon VanTorre, Michael Schwartz and Chris Weagel.
Thomas Bayrle – (b)alt
“Thomas Bayrle has been pursuing the concept of developing ‘superstructures’
from encapsulated image patterns since the 1960s. He uses it for drawings,
photocopy-montages or film animations, at first needing to work painstakingly
by hand. It is now possible to process images like this more or less automatically
by computer. Thomas Bayrle meets his grandson in the computer-animated video
‘(b)alt’ and uses interconnecting, superimposed image patters to address the
sequence of human generations sensually as well as metaphorica”
From Media Art Net.
Peter Campus – Three Transitions
Three Transitions (1973, 7 MB, 1:32 min.)
Peter Campus presents three introspective self-portraits that incorporate his dry humor.
Campus uses basic techniques of video technology and his own image to create
succinct, almost philosophical metaphors for the psychology of the self, articulating
transformations of internal and external selves, illusion and reality.
Elodie Pong – ADN/ARN
Trailer for ADN/ARN (2003, 8 MB, 4:04 min.)
“ADN/ARN was an interactive installation addressed to one person at the time,
filmed with 8 surveillance cameras, in which each visitor was invited to confide
and then contractually sell a personal secret. The initial system took place in
Lausanne at the Centre d’Arts sc