Thank you to all who showed up and made this night memorable. Hope to see you all April 30thfor our final short film festival of the semester!
Last night was awesome!! We had a great time making vine videos while munching on pizza. Vine is a short 6-second video sharing service that permits its users to edit five to six second long looping videos. In order to be part of this event, audience had to download the vine app on their smartphones. It was an interactive night overall in which the host, Lee Walton and the audience took part in. Together, we created a live installation with spontaneous vine videos that were then screened on the floor for us to experience both the visual aspect of it as well as the interesting sound composite the videos produced. Thank you to all who showed up and made this night memorable. Hope to see you all April 30thfor our final short film festival of the semester!
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Create. Make. Experiment. Peter Campus is American artist known for his fascinating photographic digital videos. In his film Three Transitions, Campus displays transformations of internal and external personalities, illusion and reality. In the first transition, the artist presents a spectacular illusion. We see Peter facing a yellow/green wall and his hands seem busy, yet it is unclear what he’s doing. We then see a cut being made in wherein he climbs through and emerges whole on the other side. In the second transition, Campus begins wiping his forehead which seemingly “erases”, thus revealing another image of himself underneath. Finally, the artist burns a live image of himself, leaving nothing but blackness. All three transitions are quite hard to explain. In order to fully understand the creative illusions one must watch the video. For more information about the artist and his work visit: http://petercampus.net Create. Make. Experiment. Since our next NSFF will be hosted by Lee Walton, it is only right to give a little glimpse about this talented artist and his work. Lee Walton is one of our very own UNCG art department professors. His skillful talent ranges from drawing to web based performances to public projects to video art and more. Walton has received many honors and awards for his creative work. The video below is one made by Walton titled Making Changes. In this film, Lee walks around, stops for a moment to make a quick change and moves on to the next scene. The camera is set beforehand with the proper angle and a good gap for the viewers to see what happens before and after the change is made. It’s amazing how for the most part, people just continue to walk by or look silently as he alters the space he’s in. For more information about Walton and his work visit: http://www.leewalton.com/work/index.html Join us next Monday March 30th for a live video installation by this extraordinary artist Lee Walton. Create. Make. Experiment. Andy Warhol was known as a pop art artist. His focus revolved around artistic expression, celebrity cultures and advertisement of the 1960’s. Warhol used various medias to showcase his work including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. In his film Eating A Hamburger, Andy sits down at the table with a burger bag and ketchup bottle in front of him. He takes the burger out of the bag, dabs the ketchup on the side and dips the burger in as he eats. His face expressionless, he leaves the viewers to speculate his emotions. The viewers wait in suspense for an action to occur. Without finishing his burger, he wraps it up, puts it back in the bag and sets it aside. He then crosses his fingers, glances around, and opens and closes his mouth repeatedly as if he’s about to say something. He does that for about a minute. In the end, the camera zooms in on his face and he says “Um, my name is Andy Warhol and uh, I just finished eating a uh, hamburger.” That’s it. That’s all to it. There is no underlying message other than the obvious, Andy Warhol eating a hamburger! Create. Make. Experiment. Adam Pesapane also known as Pes, is an American film director and stop-motion animator. In his films, he takes every day objects and creates stop animations in a crafty, engaging way. This film, titled Guacamole, demonstrates the process of making guacamole by dicing the ingredients, mixing them, and serving it with chips. It’s fascinating how he takes a simple which turn into a completely different object once it is cut or chopped. Guacamole was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It was the shortest film ever nominated for an Oscar. For more information about Pes, visit: http://pesfilm.com/ Last night was fun! It was a great turnout hosted by Professor Michael Frierson. An abundance of interesting videos were screened followed by great comments and discussions. Pizza was provided and prizes were granted to the lucky winners. We are nearing the end with only two more film festivals to go. Don’t miss the chance to view exciting films at our next festival coming soon!
Next Monday, at 6pm in the Lower Level of the Jackson Library, the NSFF - New Short film festival will be hosting Professor Michael Frierson presenting a selection of classic experimental films by Warhol, Kuchar, Brakhage, Richter, Deren, etc. From motion painting to high camp, these are remarkable works that force us to confront film as film and hopefully appreciate what lies at the center of the medium.
Michael Frierson is a UNCG Media Studies professor who teaches film production and editing. Frierson has created short films for Nickelodeon, Children's Television Workshop, MSN Video, and AT&T Blueroom. One of his recent films FBI KKK, is an hour-long documentary revolving around his father as an FBI agent in Greensboro, NC. One of his upcoming films will be featured November 1st at the UNCG Music Recital Hall. It’s an experimental dance film translating the music of visual imagery through the red clay saxophone quartet. Take a look at the filmmakers Professor Frierson will be presenting: Maya Deren Previously known as Eleanora Derenkowskaia. Deren studied journalism and political science at Syracuse University in New York. She is one of the first filmmakers to receive a Guggenheim award for creative work in motion pictures in 1947. Her first film called Meshes of the Afternoon was made with Alexander Hammid in 1943. In addition to her filmmaking, Deren is the author of An Anagram of Ideas on Art, Form and Film and Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti. Not only was Deren a filmmaker, but she was also a choreographer, dancer, film theorist, lecturer, photographer, poet and a writer. James Stanley Brakhage Stanley Brakhage was considered one of the most important figures of experimental films of the 20th Century. He approached his filmmaking in various ways including: handheld camerawork, painting directly onto celluloid, fast cutting, in-camera editing, scratching on film, collage film and the use of multiple exposures. His films were known to evoke the emotions of the viewers. Andy Warhol Andy Warhol was known as a pop art artist. His focus revolved around artistic expression, celebrity cultures and advertisement of the 1960’s. Warhol used various medias to showcase his work including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. He is also the author of The Philosophy of Andy Warhol and Popism: the Warhol Sexties. Andy Warhol has made over 60 films between 1963 and 1968. Some of his best known films are: Sleep, Blow Job, Empire, Eat, Bike Boy, My Hustler, The Nude Restaurant and Lonesome Cowboys. Kuchar Mike and George Kuchar, American twin underground filmmakers, made their first film in the 1950s in New York City. Together, they made 8mm movies alongside Andy Warhol, Kenneth Anger and Stanley Brakhage. I Was a Teenage Rumpot, Night of the Bomb and Lust for Ecsatasy received attention in the underground film world in the early 60s. Robert Richter Robert Ritcher was an independent documentary producer. His work revolved around documenting issues that were often ignored by the media. With this driven passion, he dealt with lots of controversies, risking his career and his life. His documentaries have been broadcasted on HBO, PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS and many others. With a Media Studies department like UNCG's, there are bound to be thousands of filmmakers out in the entertainment world in some form. One such filmmaker is David Gatten, who is currently a Lecturing Fellow AND Artist in Residence at Duke University, did his undergrad at UNCG and moved on to create a wide array of experimental films (most of which can be found through the University Library). Pictured above are some of the film strips from one of Gatten's earlier (and well-known) films, What the Water Said. By submerging unexposed rolls of film into the ocean, the end result was a mix of sounds and images from the ocean and what inhabits it.
Another film, The Great Art of Knowing, has been voted one of the 50 Best Films of the Decade [2010]. Part of a 9-part series focusing on biographical works on William Byrd. Gatten's focus is on the effect of film on literature. Upon first glance, David Gatten's work delves into how film can alter how we see the world around us. The way in which other media forms can be captured and affected by film double on how film can (physically) be affected by what it captures (in terms of What the Water Said). To view more, you can read Duke University's article on him, and his Wikipedia page (yeah, he has one!). Also, like stated before, you can view his work through UNCG libraries! Just search 'David Gatten'. Create. Make. Experiment! The following video was made by the creative filmmaker Miranda July titled “A Handy Tip for the Easily Distracted.” Miranda starts off by collecting items which are a distraction to her. She places the items on the floor, traps them, and then places each leg of a table on top of each item, which puts it in an unstable condition. She then gets a dress which she values and lays it on the table. Then she places a pan on the dress and fills it all the way to the edge with grape juice, thereby risking a spill on her precious white dress. She then backs away, her distractions are contained. And now she can become productive. At first I didn’t realize what she is doing or what message she’s trying to convey. I thought, “What is this person doing putting her phone and laptop on the floor?” Then I realized that the artist is looking for a solution to her modern day life distractions. It’s an odd way to look at it and an unusual method to go by, yet successful in some way. The film is beautifully composed with a clear message. The artist was able to create a sense of panic and tension by putting her dress in danger. However, I think it’s funny how she made this film as a way to avoid distractions, yet she spent her time being productive by anxiously staring at the trap which she has created. The only question left unanswered is how will she get that dress from under all that juice?! For more information about Miranda and her work visit: https://www.nowness.com/story/miranda-july-the-future Create. Make. Experiment! The following artwork is created by Holton Rower. His strategy is simple, yet effective. It’s an interesting process to watch with a beautiful outcome to observe. He starts off by pouring gallons and gallons of acrylic paint over panels of plywood. With the help of gravity, the paint spreads forming various shapes and compositions. Eventually after the paint is dry, these panels are displayed on the wall to be admired. For more information about Rower and his work visit: https://www.artsy.net/artist/holton-rower |