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Experimental Film, Fall 2016

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Course Description

Experimental Film surveys the major avant-garde film movements of the twentieth century. We will closely examine the films and theories of the film and filmmakers that challenge the dominant commercial cinemas of Europe and the United States.

Time and Place

Wednesdays, 5:30 – 8:20 PM
Library, Room MMB

Instructor

Juan Monroy

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Office Hours

Tuesdays, 12:30 - 1:30 PM
East Building, Room 207
By appointment only

Schedule an appointment

Course Materials

Textbooks

The following textbooks are available through online retailers, such as Amazon, and on reserve at the library.

Reserve Readings

In addition to the textbook, required readings will be posted as PDFs on this website. When prompted, provide the username and password I provided to you in class.

Bibliography

Please review our bibliography of relevant books on experimental and avant-garde film as a starting point for researching your final paper (described below).

LMS

We will not be using the LMS for this course.

Requirements

This class consists of five components. You cannot satisfactorily complete this course without all five of these.

Attendance

At each class, we will cover material I expect you to know for the midterm exam and your assignments. I will present on the historical and cultural context relevant to the films covered that particular week.

Screenings

Each week, there will be in-class screenings usually consisting of several films. A good number of screenings are available online at sites like YouTube or Internet Archive, and you might able to able to purchase titles from stores such as Amazon. However, the greatest value of this class comes from our watching films and discussing them as a group, in the context of other films, readings, and spontaneous conversation.

There might be outside screenings at local cinematheques such as Anthology Film Archives, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Millennium Film Workshop, the Museum of the Moving Image, The Spectacle Theater, Light Industry, and the Metrograph. Those screenings will be announced as their fall schedules are released.

Readings

Please read the assigned course material before each week’s class. Consult the Course Schedule, listed below, for the required reading assignments.

Midterm Exam

The midterm exam will be administered in class and is designed to reward regular attendance and diligent studying. There will be an in-class screening portion, along with a take-home portion due at the beginning of class the following week.

Assignments

All assignments must be completed on time in order to receive full credit. Late assignments will be penalized by a 10% reduction for each 24-hour period it is late. After seven calendar days, the assignment will not be accepted and you could fail this class.

Policies

Attendance

Regular attendance is required.

Community Standards

Students must adhere to all Institute-wide policies listed in the Bulletin under “Community Standards” and which include policies on attendance, academic integrity, plagiarism, computer, and network use.

Academic Integrity

Absolute integrity is expected of every member of the Pratt Community in all academic matters, particularly with regard to academic honesty.

The latter includes plagiarism and cheating. In addition, the continued registration of any student is contingent upon regular attendance, the quality of work, and proper conduct. Irregular class attendance, neglect of work, failure to comply with Institute rules, and official notices or conduct not consistent with general good order is regarded as sufficient reasons for dismissal.

Mobile Phones

Please silence or turn off the radio in your mobile phone (power down the phone or set to “Do Not Disturb” mode).

Email

Please check your official email account on a daily basis, if not more often. I will broadcast announcements and send point-to-point communiques using your official email address.

Please note that I am not allowed to discuss your grade from an account that is not your official email account.

Students with Disabilities

Pratt Institute is committed to the full inclusion of all students. If you are a student with a disability and require accommodations, please contact the Learning/Access Center (L/AC) at LAC@pratt.edu to schedule an appointment to discuss these accommodations. Students with disabilities who have already registered with the L/AC are encouraged to speak to the professor about accommodations they may need to produce an accessible learning environment.

Requests for accommodation should be made as far in advance as reasonably possible to allow sufficient time to make any necessary modifications to ensure the relevant classes, programs, or activities are readily accessible. The L/AC is available to Pratt students, confidentially, with additional resources and information to facilitate full access to all campus programs and activities and provide support related to any other disability-related matters.

Late Work and “Incomplete” Grades

Please submit your work on time. Late work will be penalized by a 10% reduction for each 24-hour period it is late. After one calendar week, the assignment will not be accepted and you will likely fail this class.

There will be no incomplete grades for this class except in the case of a documented emergency in the final weeks of the semester. If you experience such an emergency, please contact me immediately, and we will work out a schedule for you to complete the outstanding work before the beginning of the following semester.

But aside from these circumstances, no late work will be accepted and no “incomplete” grades will be granted. If you have difficulty keeping up with coursework, consider giving yourself extra time to complete assignments, reducing your overall course load, and/or taking this class at a later semester.

Note: Flexible deadline requests are the initial step in a dialogue; it is your responsibility to reach out to me with the length of extension you need.

Evaluation

Attendance

Regular attendance is required and will count towards your grade.

  • Weight: 10%

Presentation

In the second week of class, you will select a film to present to the class.

On your assigned date, present “curator notes” on the film you were assigned. Your presentation should include an introduction to the film, its filmmaker, and the circumstances surrounding its production. You should also explain the significance of this film to the historical avant-garde and reference any relevant works that we’ve screened to date.

Please bring a written copy of your presentation notes, about two pages in length, including a bibliography, to class on the day you present.

You need not bother bringing a copy of the film to screen in class. I will take care of that.

Midterm Exam

The midterm exam will consist of four essay questions requiring you to engage the screenings and readings related to the major movements and trends in experimental film we covered in class.

  • Due October 12, in class
  • Weight: 30%

Final Project

There are two possibilities for this assignment. One for the undergraduate students and another for the graduate students in this class. Choose wisely.

Undergraduate Students

Using at least three films screened in at least two different weeks of the course, define what constitutes an “experimental film.” Create a time-based project, lasting no more than five minutes in length, that adheres to your working definition of “experimental film” and engages the historical avant-garde we surveyed in this course.

I will evaluate your project on the following criteria:

  • Focus. The idea that underlies your work should be specific and explained with a simple thesis statement;
  • Clarity. Your work should clearly articulate your idea through visual, spatial, temporal, or textual elements;
  • Historically Informed. Your work should demonstrate your understanding and application of the historical avant-garde
  • Original. Is your work an original or novel application of the avant-garde, enlightened by our contemporary moment. Avoid making a reproduction or pastiche of earlier works.

Please include a written statement, about a two pages in length, that explains your work and its connection to the historical avant-garde.

An intellectual mentor of mine used to assign a similar project, but she forbid any student from including any guns or explosives in their work. She never explained why, but I am going to follow her lead and implement a similar prohibition. No explosives or firearms, please.

Graduate Students… and Verbose Undergraduates

Write a seminar paper that considers the history, aesthetics, and/or politics of the experimental filmmaking as addressed in the films in this course. You may analyze a film, discuss the poetics of an avant-garde movement and its relevance to experimental filmmaking, or describe a central feature of the avant-garde and how it may exist in other works.

As advanced students and budding scholars, you have a lot of flexibility for what you can cover in this assignment, although I may evaluate you on the following criteria:

  • Original. You should have an original argument.
  • Focus. Your argument should be specific and explained with a simple thesis statement;
  • Historically Informed. Your paper should demonstrate your understanding and application of the historical avant-garde;
  • Rigorously researched. Your paper should reference relevant works on experimental filmmaking and the avant-garde at large.

Undergraduates who opt for this assignment should inform me no later than the first week of November.

All Students
  • Due: December 14, in class
  • Weight: 40%

Course Schedule

The following schedule will be frequently revised depending various factors. We might not be able to rent some of the titles. I might increase or decrease the volume of readings. Also, our discussion might veer into unexpected directions so we might follow that rather than to stick to a plan I threw together sometime in August.

August 24 • First Films, First Experiments

  • Dickson Camera Test (Edison Manufacturing Company, USA, 1891)
  • Men Boxing (Edison Manufacturing Company, USA, 1891)
  • Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze (W. K. L. Dickson, USA, 1894)
  • Caicdeo King of Slack Wire (W. K. L. Dickson, USA, 1894)
  • Annabelle Butterfly Dance (W. K. L. Dickson, USA, 1894)
  • Athlete with Wand (W. K. L. Dickson, USA, 1894)
  • Boxing Cats (W. K. L. Dickson, USA, 1894)
  • The Kiss (W. K. L. Dickson, USA, 1896)
  • Workers Leaving the Factory (Auguste and Louis Lumiére, France, 1895)
  • Demolition of a Wall (Auguste and Louis Lumiére, France, 1896)
  • Star Theatre (American Mutoscope and Biograph, USA, 1901)
  • The Black Imp (George Méliès, France, 1905)
  • Long Distance Wireless Photography (George Méliès, France, 1905)
Readings

August 31 • Dada and Surrealism

Assignment

Select the film for your presentation.

Films
  • Entr’acte (Rene Clair, France, 1924, 15 min.)
  • Anemic Cinema (Marcel Duchamp, France, 1926, 7 min.)
  • Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, France 1927, 12 min.)
  • La Coquille et le Clergyman [The Seashell and the Clergyman] (Germaine Dulac, France, 1928, 28 min.)
Readings

September 7 • Abstraction, Film, and the Machine

In-Class Films
  • Rhythmus 21 (Hans Richter, Germany, 1923, 3 min.)
  • Symphonie Diagonale (Diagonal Symphony) (Viking Egglund, Germany, 1924, 5 min.)
  • Ballet Mecanique (Fernand Leger, France, 1924, 19 min.)
Films on Reserve
  • Retour a la Raison (Man Ray, France, 1923, 3 min.)
  • Rhythm (Len Lye, UK, 1957, 1 min.)
  • Schichlegruber: Doing the Lambeth Walk (Charles Ridley, UK, 1941, 2 min.)
Reading
  • Turvey, “Abstraction and Rhythmus 21,” and “‘Cinema Pur’ and Ballet Mechanique.”
Further Readings

September 14 • City Symphony

In-Class Films
  • Rain (Joris Ivens, Netherlands, 1929, 15 min.)
  • Berlin: Symphony of a City (Walter Ruttman, Germany, 1927, 65 min.)

Films on Reserve

  • Twenty Four Dollar Island (Robert Flaherty, USA, 1926, 12 min.)
  • A Propos De Nice (Jean Vigo, France, 1930, 23 min.)
  • Symphonie der Wolkerkratzer (Robert Florey, Germany, 1929, 10 min.)
Readings
Further Reading

September 21 • Early American Avant-Garde

Films
  • Manhatta (Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand, USA, 1921, 11 min.)
  • H20 (Ralph Steiner, USA, 1929, 12 min.)
  • Mechanical Principles (Ralph Steiner, USA, 1929, 11 min.)
  • Rose Hobart (Joseph Cornell, USA, 1936, 19 min.)
  • Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (Robert Florey and Slavko Vorkapich, USA, 1928, 11 min.)
  • A Bronx Morning (Jay Leyda, USA, 1931, 11 min.)
  • Wonder Ring (Stan Brakhage, USA, 1955, 5 min.)
Reading

September 28 • Maya Deren and the Modern American Avant-Garde

Films
  • Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, USA, 1943, 14 min.)
  • At Land (Maya Deren, USA, 1944, 15 min.)
  • Study in Choreography for Camera (Maya Deren, USA, 1945, 4 min.)
  • Meditation on Violence (Maya Deren, USA, 1948, 12 min.)
  • Ritual in Transfigured Time (Maya Deren, USA, 1946, 15 min.)
  • The Very Eye of Night (Maya Deren, USA, 1958, 15 min.)
Reading
  • Rabinovitz, Lauren. “Maya Deren and an American Avant-Garde Cinema.” In Points of Resistance: Women, Power, and Politics in the New York Avant-Garde Cinema, 1943–1971, 49–91. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991.
Further Reading
  • Sitney, P. Adams. “Meshes of the Afternoon and Ritual and Nature.” In Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, 1943–2000, 3–42. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

October 5 • Midterm Exam

We will begin the midterm exam today in class.

October 12 • Stan Brakhage and Poetic Film

Films
  • Desistfilm (Stan Brakhage, USA, 1954, 7 min.)
  • Window Baby Water Moving (Stan Brakhage, USA, 1959, 13 min.)
  • Cat’s Cradle (Stan Brakhage, USA, 1959, 6 min.)
  • The Dead (Stan Brakhage, USA, 1959, 6 min.)
  • Mothlight (Stan Brakhage, USA, 1963, 4 min.)
  • Prelude: Dog Star Man (Stan Brakhage, USA, 1964, 25 min.)
  • The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes (Stan Brakhage, USA, 1971, 32 min.)
Readings
  • Sitney, P. Adams. “The Lyrical Film.” In Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, 1943–2000, 3rd ed., 155–88. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 2002.

If you wish to screen Dog Star Man in its entirety, you might also want to read the following:

  • Sitney, P. Adams. “Major Mythopoeia.” In Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, 1943–2000, 3rd ed., 189–230. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 2002.

October 19 • Kenneth Anger and the Kuchars

Films
  • Fireworks (Kenneth Anger, USA, 1947, 15 min.)
  • Puce Moment (Kenneth Anger, USA, 1949, 6 min.)
  • Rabbit’s Moon (Kenneth Anger, USA, 1950, 16 min.)
  • Eaux des Artifice (Kenneth Anger, USA, 1953, 13 min.)
  • Inauguration of the pleasure dome (Kenneth Anger, USA, 1954, 38 min.)
  • Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, USA, 1964, 28 min.)
  • Sins of the Fleshapoids (Mike Kuchar, USA, 1965, 40 min.)
Relevant Screening
Readings
  • Suárez, Juan. “Pop, Queer or Facist? The Ambiguity of Mass Culture in Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising.” In Bike Boys, Drag Queens, and Superstars: Avant-Garde, Mass Culture, and Gay Identities in the 1960s American Underground Cinema, 141–80. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.
  • Stevenson, Jack. “The Life and Films of the Brothers of Invention.” In Desperate Visions 1: Camp America, The Films of John Waters and George & Mike Kuchar, 161–84. London; New York: Creation Books, 1996.
Further Reading
  • Sitney, P. Adams. “The Magus.” In Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, 1943–2000, 3rd ed., 83–120. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 2002.

October 26 • New York and the American Avant-Garde

Films
  • 145 W 21 (Rudy Burckhardt, USA, 1936, 10 min.)
  • Under the Brooklyn Bridge (Rudy Burckhardt, USA, 1953, 15 min.)
  • The Aviary (Rudy Burckhardt, USA, 1955, 5 min.)
  • The Bull Fighter (Shirley Clarke, USA, 1955, 10 min.)
  • Bridges Go Round (Shirley Clarke, USA, 1958, 4 min.)
  • East Side Summer (Rudy Burckhardt, USA, 1959, 11 min.)
  • Empire (Andy Warhol, USA, 1964, excerpt)
  • Go Go Go (Marie Menken, USA, 1964, 11 min.)
  • Square Times (Rudy Burckhardt, USA, 1967, 6 min.)
  • Cerveza Bud (Rudy Burkhardt, USA, 1981, 22 min.)

November 2 • Explicitly Experimental

Films
  • Blow Job (Andy Warhol, USA, 1964, 35 min.)
  • My Hustler (Andy Warhol, USA, 1965, 63 min.)
  • Flaming Creatures (Jack Smith, USA, 1963, 42 min.)
  • Fuses (Carolee Schneemann, USA, 1964, 22 min.)
Recommended Screening
  • Jack Smith and The Destruction of Atlantis (Mary Jordan, 2007, 95 min.)
Readings
  • Suárez, Juan. “The Artist as Advertiser: Stardom, Style, and Commodification in Andy Warhol’s Underground Films.” In Bike Boys, Drag Queens, and Superstars: Avant-Garde, Mass Culture, and Gay Identities in the 1960s American Underground Cinema, 214–259. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.
  • Suárez, Juan. “Drag, Rubble, and ‘Secret Flix’: Jack Smith’s Avant-Garde against the Lucky Landlord Empire.” In Bike Boys, Drag Queens, and Superstars: Avant-Garde, Mass Culture, and Gay Identities in the 1960s American Underground Cinema, 181–213. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.
Further Reading

November 9 • Animation and Compilation Film

Films
  • Spirals (Oskar Fischinger, Germany, 1926, 6 min.)
  • Kreise (Oskar Fischinger, Germany, 1933, 3 min.)
  • Optical Poem (Oskar Fischinger, Germany, 1937, 7 min.)
  • Early Abstractions (Harry Smith, USA, 1941–57, 22 min.)
  • Allures (Jordan Belson, USA, 1961, 8 min.)
  • A Movie (Bruce Conner, USA, 1959, 12 min.)
  • Report (Bruce Conner, USA, 1967, 13 min.)
  • Peyote Queen (Storm De Hirsch, USA, 1965, 9 min.)
  • Wonder Woman (Dana Birnbaum, USA, 1978, 5 min.)
Readings
Further Reading
  • MacDonald, Scott. “Interview with Robert Breer.” In A Critical Cinema: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers, 15–50. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

November 16 • Structural Filmmaking

Films
  • Wavelength (Michael Snow, USA, 1967, 45 min.)
  • Nostalgia (Hollis Frampton, USA, 1971, 36 min.)
  • T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G (Paul Sharits, USA, 1969, 12 min.)
  • Bad Burns (Paul Sharits, USA, 1982, 6 min.)
  • Film that Rises to the Surface of Clarified Butter (Owen Land, USA, 1976, 8 min.)
Readings
  • Sitney, P. Adams. “Structural Film.” In Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde, 1943–2000, 369–397. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
  • James, David. “Pure Film.” In Allegories of Cinema: American Film in the Sixties, 237–279. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.
Further Readings
  • MacDonald, Scott. “Interview with Hollis Frampton.” In A Critical Cinema: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers, 21–77. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
  • MacDonald, Scott. “Interview with Michael Snow.” In A Critical Cinema: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers, 51–76. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.

November 30 • Video Art

Films
  • Baldessari sings [Sol] LeWitt (John Baldessari, USA, 1972, 4 min.)
  • Undertone excerpt (Vito Acconci, USA, 1972, 9 min.)
  • Vertical Roll (Joan Jonas, USA, 1972, 20 min.)
  • Television Delivers People (Richard Serra, USA, 1973, 6 min.)
  • Five-Minute Romp Through the IP (Dan Sandin, USA, 1973, 5 min.)
  • Triangle in front of square in front of circle in front of triangle (Dan Sandin, USA, 1973, 2 min.)
  • Female sensibility (Lynda Bengalis, USA, 1973, 15 min.)
  • Boomerang (Richard Serra/Nancy Holt, USA, 1974, 10 min.)
  • Performer/Audience/Mirror (Dan Graham, USA, 1975, 23 min.)
  • Cycles of 3s and 7s (Tony Conrad, USA, 1976, 3 min.)
  • Sweet Light (Bill Viola, USA, 1977, 9 min.)
  • Vital Statistics of a Citizen, Simply Obtained (Martha Rosler, USA, 1977, 39 min.)

December 14 • Final Project Due

Please present your final projects in class today. Also, bring your written statements to class.