People Doing Stuff

A perfectly guileless presentation, as advertised. The original post on YouTube describes it best: "It's oddly satisfying."

A 2007 film by KOKI TANAKA entitled EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING.

Counter

The compilation of patterns or recurring tropes in video art has become something of a benchmark, not to say a cliche, and comes from the accessibility and mashability of past film and television clips. The current tendency of this type of work is usually pleasurable in two ways: the style and execution of a distinct concept, and then also in recognition by the viewer of the original sources. I would say, while the first is important, it is the second tendency which usually makes or breaks the effectiveness of the work.

This 2004 video, COUNTER by German artist VOLKER SCHREINER, is a good example of both tendencies.

Moments

The pop-science public radio and podcast phenomenon RADIO LAB has posted another beautiful video to demonstrate one of its concerns. This time the "visual experiment" details little moments in a human life. Expertly edited, the piece is sentimental and funny without being obvious or pandering.

In many ways, the work of WILL HOFFMAN for RADIO LAB is a continuation of the scientific films made by Charles and Ray Eames in previous decades.

"My Purple Past" by Deerhoof

Made by ASHA SCHECHTER, this music video for art rock faves DEERHOOF is an investigation into the different methods of home listening. One of the more successful fusions of rock video and structualist cinema.

Sound is architecture is cinema.

Outer Space

One of the most dedicated film deconstructionist working today, PETER TCHERKASSKY's 1999 film OUTER SPACE truly shows the outer limits of the world of motion pictures. Part cut-up, structuralist cinema, and filmic fantasy, the work of TCHERKASSKY instills a new kind of drama into previously traditional footage.

BARR: First song

Artist BRENDEN FOWLER'S spoken word project BARR performed last night at the New Museum, NYC, where he also has work in the YOUNGER THAN JESUS generational exhibit up now.

This video was made by DAVID HORVITZ.

All My Life by Bruce Baillie

Part of the original wave of New American Cinema in the 60's, BRUCE BAILLIE's work was beautiful in it's simplicity and poeticism, always arriving at a deeply personal awareness of the image.

ALL MY LIFE, made in 1966 on 16mm film, is famously the all-time favorite film of my all-time favorite teacher of film.

Parabolas, etc.

The WNYC program RADIO LAB has consistently been one of the most forward-thinking audio productions, and this foray into filmmaking continues that tradition. Directed by WILL HOFFMAN, this piece recalls the science-inflected films of CHARLES AND RAY EAMES. And the music, from TIM HECKER's underrated RADIO AMOR album, is another example of the program's undisputed curatorial instinct.

Like a moth to a flame

From STAN BRAKHAGE, the seminal avant garde short film MOTHLIGHT. Made in 1963. Uploaded to YouTube in 2007.

Giant white glove

This video is from a 2007 project called White Glove Tracking, in which a collective of online users collaborated to produce a source code tracking MICHAEL JACKSON's white glove from the footage of his legendary BILLIE JEAN performance.

TIM KNAPEN, the artist here, uses the data to greatly expand the white glove, to surreal and comical effect. A new classic.

The Perfect Human

This 1967 short film from Danish filmmaker JØRGEN LETH was the subject of LARS VON TRIER's provocation THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS, in which LETH was challenged to remake the film five times, each with new "obstructions" set by VON TRIER.

On its own, the film is certainly a singular production, merging documentary style with Structuralism, cast in a New Wave sense of off-handed poetry. For contemporary film fans who have seen the VON TRIER film, THE PERFECT HUMAN never appears in full in that movie, so it's a real pleasure to watch the original, without the weight of any further challenges.

Last kiss

MARTIN ARNOLD is one of the bigger names is contemporary art cinema. His approach is intensely formalist, in the structuralist tradition. This is a short segment from his 1998 film ALONE. LIFE WASTES ANDY HARDY, which re-edits footage from the ANDY HARDY film series orginally made between 1937 and 1958.

The stutter-jerk technique developed by ARNOLD is a doorway toward exploring classic Hollywood cinema, in order to reveal, in ARNOLD's words, "something behind that which is being represented, which was not represented."

Punch In

Here we have a fan-made video of the Nintendo classic MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH OUT, showcasing one gamer's run to the finish, only taking one punch. Growing up with two older brothers, I spent a lot of time watching others play video games, basically waiting for my turn. Being the youngest son, my turn didn't always come, but I came to enjoy watching the little movies video games provided without actually playing them.

The game-play of PUNCH OUT, like most early Nintendo, is quite simple, limited to one background, and based on learned movements and patterns. Years later, when I returned to this game, I made the comment that what the game boils down to is simply learning the "dance" of all the characters.

I realize gaming has become more cinematic, but my experience never went much further than Nintendo. I don't expect anyone to make it through the entire video, but know, for me, this is probably the first structuralist film with which I became fascinated.