Page 19 - Studio International - November 1967

trails in the sky the artists of our time, as with light—a glossary of experiments which
Gothic stone masons were the artists of are nothing more than a list of possibilities.
theirs ?' This is rather naïve, for who would think of
While Piene elaborates his plans for the demonstrating the possibilities inherent in the
future there are two aspects of light as an use of oil paints or acrylics ?
artistic medium that must be considered now. Since light tends to look attractive whatever
The first is that it is difficult for an artist to you do with it, there are still very few light
assert his style or, so to speak, put his finger- displays which transcend the initial over-
print on a light display. These elusive illumi- powering effectiveness of the medium. For the
nations which are the common medium have moment the role of light in art is still that of
a strangely persistent quality of their own and an accompaniment or an analogue to drama,
whether one artist makes polarized light music or poetry. Despite the claims made for
configurations or another, the results tend to them, light displays are not yet fully emanci-
look very similar. Secondly, it often seems that pated as an art form, and they won't be until
many light display exhibitions tend to deal both artist and audience emerge from a state
with the demonstration of what can be done of seduction by the medium itself. q

An Underground land apparently receive some State support.
Tulips shows the Dutch national flower
movie trip wilting. After a long take of a vase of tulips,
poised on a sideboard, one petal falls out of
the frame. Rape is a parody of Bergman and
Bunuel. The hazy sunlight, the long ferns,
the apparently innocent frolic, the nun
The London Film-Makers Co-operative recently fingering mushrooms, are all there.
The two films by Steve Dwoskin, who now
presented an evening of Underground movies
at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The lives in London, are more ambitious. I had
seen Chinese Chequers before on a small
films shown are here reviewed by Kevin
screen and the large flat wall of the I.C.A.
Gough-Yates,
enhanced its formal qualities more than I
would have thought. I have been told that it
Some of the films shown at the Institute of
Contemporary Arts seem dated, especi- looks even better on a bigger screen. Made
ally those by Hy Hyrsh (Come Closer and La in 1964, it took three months to make, work-
Couleur de la Forme), and it is surprising ing on Sundays. For seventeen minutes, two
that they are thought radical enough to be girls play a game. Like most games it serves
included in the Co-operative's distribution the dual purpose of exploring the physical
list. Both are abstracts with a professional and psychological interplay between the
touch (except on the sound track). The first participants. 'The game is merely a device
is a charming blending of images remini- for bringing the two people together. The
scent of a fairground spectacular. Red, marbles are used sexually.' As the hands
greens and yellows intertwine as circles or are raised to move the marbles, the film
squares, culminating in a slightly more reveals a tension by exposing details of
substantial image. The other rapidly cuts the girls' faces. Gradually and almost im-
from negative to positive film in a brief five- perceptibly the make-up on their faces is
minute collection of associated ideas: a emphasized so that their sexual roles are
woman and dog are replaced by a mother disclosed. The use of make-up as a meta-
pushing a pram, which slides into images of phor to describe an emotional state is
scooters and so on. As exercises in form similar to McClaren's in his Neighbours.
they are mildly interesting but seen outside Soliloquy is a more recent film recognizably
by the same hand. The title gives a good
the context of Underground Cinema I doubt
idea of its content. It does not have the same
if anyone would raise an eyebrow to com-
ment on their inventiveness. A not dissimi- impact as some of his other work but it does
show his concern for the tonal aspect of
lar piece by James Whitney (Lapis) is much
film making. The contrasts of black and
too long at eight minutes. The images are
white and the underlighting begin to point
similar to those you find in a child's kaleido-
to a recognizable style. Dwoskin uses Kodak
scope.
All the above are from the U.S. None of Tri-X because of its flexibility but complains
the films shown was from the U.K.—'The that laboratories often fail to carry out in-
films are not forthcoming,' says Steve structions. The sound track of Alone, for
Dwoskin. 'For financial reasons all my films example, was levelled out. 'It's still my best
q
have been shot in the States where C.B.S. film,' he says.
gave me the film. Over here, apart from the
cost, Rank, for example, refused to process
our stuff because we had no letter-head.' Series of stills from
Von Vanderlinden's joke films from Hol- Steve Dwoskin's Chinese Chequers