Page 75 - Studio International - November December 1975

are the division that cuts across what is essentially a
sliding scale of time-bases. A piece of paper on the wall BOOKS
is as much a duration as the projection of a film. Its
only difference is in its immediate relationship to our
perceptions. Report by John A. Walker
A static thing, in terms of impulses to the brain, is a
repetitive event. Whether the locus for consideration is
'static' or 'moving', we deal with time-spans of attention,
the engagement of cognition and memory within the
context of art behaviour. Neither objects nor events are Whistler lithographs: an
for the most part accessible. They are rarely 'on show'.
Since they are intentional, meaningful signs, this is of no illustrated catalogue raisonné
consequence : once an idea is established 'in mind', compiled and edited by Mervyn Levy
it has entered the circuit of (art) ideas, and it won't go 150 pp; 200 illustrations (4 in colour).
away, except through debate within the circuit. The Bibliography. Jupiter Books, 1975. £6
apprehension of any artwork, static or moving, is a
fleeting moment, as are all experiences. It is their mental Whistler was one of the major print-makers and
residue that is important. One of the norms of film innovators in the techniques of lithography and etching
presentation has been 'limited, group access'. It has been in the nineteenth century and, inevitably, he was involved
necessary to assemble at a particular time to see the work,
in lawsuits over the correct use of these media. Although
thus forming the social group, 'audience'. This group has this book contains several brief essays on Whistler's
specific behavioural characteristics.
print-making it is primarily a pictorial record. Whistler's
subjects included nudes, portraits, riverscapes and
street scenes all rendered in delicate lines or soft tones.
One curious feature is the lack of colour lithographs in
his oeuvre (there are only four illustrated in this book) ; it
seems Whistler believed that 'black is the most essential
of all colours'.

The icecream connection: all
you'd love to know about

icecream
by Ralph Pomeroy
Anthony McCall Long Film for Ambient Light, Idea Warehouse, 288 pp ; fully illustrated.
June1975 Paddington Press, 1975. Softback £2.95

With Fire Cycle (MOMA, Oxford, 9 June '74, duration A teeth-tingling survey of all aspects of icecream,
13 hours) and Long Film for Four Projectors including recipes. It is relevant to the visual arts and
(completed Nov '74, NYC), I established to my design history because it contains numerous photographs
satisfaction that extending the duration could of the lavish interior decor of icecream parlours and of
significantly alter the kind of concentration possible on icecream tricycles and trucks ; it also reproduces
the part of the spectator. Because the time-span of examples of period advertisements and a selection of
attention was not prescribed, the works being advertised paintings and sculptures making use of the icecream
as merely 'open' between certain hours, people came and motif. The author is an American poet, art critic and
went in their own time. The structure of each of them, icecream addict.
though continually shifting, had a systematic evenness.
No special viewing positions were dictated, and in each
case the entire space was utilized so that there was no
particular axis of attention (unlike earlier films like
Line describing a Cone where, though there was an
infinite set of possible viewing positions, there was
nevertheless a one-line axis running through space, Modern painting and the
which in terms of eye direction always ended at one Northern Romantic tradition:
point, the lens of the projector). When there were
several people present at one moment, the scale was Friedrich to Rothko
sufficient to provide spatial separation. These formal
characteristics made possible a one-to-one relationship by Robert Rosenblum
between spectator and work. 240 pp ; 314 illustrations.
I am now interested in reducing the 'performance' Thames Hudson, 1975. £7.50
aspect, in order to examine certain other fundamentals,
viz temporality, light. I am presently assuming that it is In this book, based on a lecture series, Rosenblum
possible to do this without using the customary photo- deliberately sets out to provide an alternative history of
chemical and electro-chemical processes (which have modern art by giving priority to Romantic — Expressionist
the disadvantage of being expensive, ie slow). I am aware artists such as Friedrich, Van Gogh, Munch, Hodler,
of the dangers of back-tracking, that behind every Nolde, Marc, Kandinsky and Klee rather than those
'first principle' lurks another, and I do not rule out the associated with the school of Paris. He is also unorthodox
possibility of continuing to make 'films'. However, for the in stressing sacred and mystical values besides the
time being I intend to concentrate less on the physical formal ones. The work of Mondrian and the Abstract
process of production and more on the presuppositions Expressionists is linked to the Northern Romantic
behind film as an art activity. tradition under the label 'transcendental abstraction'.
Most of the illustrations in this book are too small and
none is in colour; this is a serious defect in view of
the fact that colour is such an important element in
Romantic painting.
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