Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Crispin Glover's "What Is It?"

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I had always known Crispin Glover to be an "eccentric" actor, in the same vain as Steve Buscemi, Jack Nance and others, but never quite realized the extent of his counter-cult until viewing a showing of his first directorial feature, What Is It?, several years ago at the Oak Street Cinema in Minnesota.

What Is It? is the first film of Glover’s planned “It” trilogy, a loosely connected trilogy based on the essence of humanity and what it means to be a living, thinking organism in a world of disarray and allusion. What Is It? is a film that questions who we are, and the division between the internal and external self. The majority of the characters have Down’s syndrome, but are acting roles of “normal” persons; the Down’s syndrome is merely a circumstance of the performer, and not at all a condition of the plot or narrative within the film. Here we are shocked by a rare glimpse of truth, forced to look beyond the obvious condition of the actors, and into the roles that they portray.

As an experimentalist at heart, I have never warmed up to or particularly understood narrative cinema for several reasons: One is that there are no more than a handful of actors in the World that can effectively handle heavy and extensive dialog-- all but an elite few appear contrived or fake, in no way reflecting what it would actually be like to live in that particular situation. The other main reason is that reality itself is typically far more interesting than a narrative film, and if I wanted that, I’d simply go outside and walk around for 90 minutes. For me, “reality” portrayed in fiction film is generally quite boring, and does little to expand our culture.

By using practically all actors with disabilities in What Is It?, Glover effectively transcends the usual fakery of acting, using the disability as a sleight-of-hand to distract the viewer into a lulled state of genuine narrative interest. Not to mention, the features of these characters are much more cinematically appealing than “normal” faces, and work toward maximizing the visual potential of each scene. The characters become both actors and “props,” to tantalize our voyeuristic sensibilities.

Another element that these actors create is a natural sense of psilocybinistic free-fall, while as the film progresses the mind is tricked into seeing the disabled actors as “normal” people, and we begin to identify with them as we might our "normal" selves. If we allow our minds to relax during the viewing of the film, it can legitimately feel as though you, the viewer, has Down’s syndrome as well.

Visually, the film is overwhelmingly stunning, mixing elements of Fantasia, Un Chien Andalou and Plan 9 From Outer Space. There are also other narrative and stylistic elements similar to noted disability films, such as Freaks, Even Dwarfs Started Small, and The Elephant Man. All and all, the film is much more fantastic that anything “reality” could conceive of, making the overall work highly intriguing, thought-provoking and enjoyable.



The extremely visual and unusual nature of the film does overpower during the first initial viewing, and tends to offset the true meaning behind the film. This is not at all a criticism, although is does make it difficult to properly review, as repeated viewings are all but impossible given the screening limitations of the film. It is widely known that Glover will only show this film personally, and that no copies are available for rental or elsewhere.

That said, after the first ten minutes of the film, I was convinced that it may be the finest film I had ever seen, and was content to relax and enjoy the ride. This is certainly one of the most groundbreaking films of our time, and well worth any rare opportunity to see.


d.anderson 2011

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Summer Solstice Party

If you read this blog, you're invited to the party:



Donations of food, drink or $$$ accepted for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Captain Ahab in Hot Springs National PArk

On Tuesday, April 17, 2011, Los Angeles' "Captain Ahab" visited The Exchange in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas. This rather eccentric performance outfit is perhaps best known for their track "Snakes on the Brain," which was featured in the 2006 film, "Snakes on a Plane." They also gained popularity with a host of other pop dancehall tracks such as "Girls Gone Wild" and "Malibu Beach Party."

Known for catchy beats and a scantily-clad energetic hype-man, Wikipedia aptly describes, "While their lyrics are satirically misogynistic, their live performance is thoroughly homoerotic." At least one unassuming young patron received a facefull of sweaty chest hair by inching a bit too close to the stage.

On this electric Tuesday night, tornado sirens could be heard howling in the background as a stoic cast of locals waited in the dark halls of their DIY underground performance space. At first, they were treated to a much more intellectual and experimental version of the band than what appeared in 2006, as the show kicked off with a stately puppet show that invoked a true sense of historic honor for the occasion:



Continued, CINEPLOSION projections began to morph with the band's own montage images, creating a swirling atmosphere of disoriented mind-expansion:



At some point in the performance, all controls on our CINEPLOSION panels began to malfunction as if out of a 1980s SciFi thriller. Like Ahab himself, our technicians struggled to maintain afloat, yet the kinetic energy of the storm seized control. The following images were incomprehensibly generated, possessed, as a severe thunder storm plummeted the venue overhead:



Beware, Ladies and Gentlemen. We nearly slipped into a portal beyond our very own conscious, out-of-control and out-of-mind, an electric pulse through the spine, skull and Heavens. Dorothy, watch your back. Dorothy, see you at Radio Shack.

Friday, April 8, 2011

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

In appreciation and acknowledgement for our many dedicated viewers who are recent stroke victims, CINEPLOSION has teamed up with 1-800-STROKES to bring you the following announcement.

LIVING WITH RISK:

Monday, March 28, 2011

Ultra-hip finds...

I wish we'd gotten our dirty CINEPLOSION hands on these tracks before they got ofiical videos...

Sugar and Gold "Bodyaches" - These dudes did a CINEPLOSION at "The Exchange" in Hot Springs National Park, AR, a while back, but to my knowledge the video either didn't record properly or became lost to some sort of un-labeled tape void. FUTURE ESTATE SALERS BEWARE!



Birds and Batteries "Lightning (UTNG Version)" - This is a super track from a somewhat lesser-known but relentlessly touring outfit. Picked it up at a show once, and it really socked it for me. This clip is essentually a music video for Len Lye's 1935 Colour Box. Lye is one of the great pioneers of early hand-made cinema, and I love his stuff. But for me... the film and the song are too good for each other. I'd suggest watching the movie silent, and then listening to the song in darkness.



For another way-cool Len Lye film, search out "Neighbors" 1952

Black Cherry "Radio" - This swanky UK outfit breezed into Hot Springs National Park during the 2011 Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival, playing a sleeper, early-evening gig at the Star Gallery downtown. I picked up their rare "The Preface" EP. Mega cool--



Actually, Black Cherry's "Fake Blood" is by far my favorite on the album, and tore it up live. This song doesn't seem to have a video yet... hmmm....

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Czech "mapping"

Whoa, this one knocked me off my rocker. Over in Prague the art of video "mapping" man-made objects is taking off. Light shows, puppetry, phantasmagoria and the like have a long history here, so this is no surprise.

The 600 Years from the macula on Vimeo.



Oh yeah, Jan Svankmajer lives there too!



Family folklore has swirled that I've got stake in a castle somewhere in those Czech hills... one of these days I'd ought to find it!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

FLEX Performances- CINEPLOSION/Nugent/Justice

The idea of “CINEPLOSION” has morphed a bit over time, and the latest real-life occurrence occurred at the Palomino Pool Hall patio in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, 17, 2011. I had been penciled in for the gig, but backed out just a few weeks before due to a case of the “practicalities.” Well by golly if I didn’t get a little queeze in the gut; you know, the kind like maybe you took a wrong turn somewhere or missed your exit? Yes, I’d learned this lesson before-- as a Minnesotan might say, “if the road’s plowed, drive it.” So recant, I did, and was off to Florida with a sigh of relief.

It was a super swell drive. I left Hot Springs at about 8pm, a bit past the 10am I’d planned, and made it just past Birmingham, Alabama for my first stint. Took a snooze in the far corner of a Wal/Mart parking lot from 4:30-10am, then booked it to Gainesville.

I got into town just a bit late for Phil Solomon’s show (reviewed in past post), then got to meet the whole FLEX crew and the next day a chill day before the show.

Wow, what a rare pleasure to have ample time to prepare. I sorta felt obligated to pull out all the stops with the gear, just ‘cause I’d traveled a long way and kinda wanted to bust out my best. Problem is, my getup it all hardware-- plugs and gadgets; do-dads and googliematts. Taming and patience required. So I got there at 2pm, and started projecting at 11pm-- successfully mobilizing 80% of my technological availabilities. 80 percent?! Whaaa-wooooo! A new record..!



Gainesville native, Andrew Downs was my DJ, and it proved to be the perfect combo. His setup is all cassette audio tapes, and mine is all cassette video tapes, so we managed a complete audio and visual analog tape set. Thumbs up to Andrew Downs, and for FLEX and Palomino crews for hooking this one !



Next up for live projects was Patrick Nugent, who’s “Merry-Go-Round” premiered at the IndieGrits festival in Nugent’s home-base of Columbia, South Carolina. Wizard gizzards, did FLEX find a diamond in this one! The installation consists of a large painted screen, cosmically cobwebbed precisely to coordinate with fragmented, mutating images on the projection. The resulting installation is a repressed adolescent boy’s neurological mind meltdown, as sex advice and protocol electrocute the third eye..


Patrick Nugent bowling at FLEX.

The third performance of the festival provided the perfect swam song to the weekend. Festival organizer, Amanda Justice, came armed with a backpack of VHS tapes and a killer naturally-birthed VJ name. Yes, I can attest the local thrift outlets professionally scoured, and tape pirates best move on to the next town for holy grail “Swayze Dancing” tapes or other such finds. Those gems are in the hands of Justice, waiting to whirl with the whizz and click of a rewind, pause and play.



Somewhere along the line I mentioned that it was pretty unusual to have two VHS VJ’s in one room, and heard in response, “Oh... I just thought that’s how it was ALWAYS done.” And at first I was baffled but then a little charmed. To know that “Bohiemias” still exit were a competent, art-going patron can be tricked into believing VHS-mixing is a standard, practical art form. Ah, it just melts my big ‘ol analog heart.

Photo credits: FLEX/Jessie White

Reviewed by d.anderson 2011

Saturday, March 5, 2011

FLEX- Mark Toscano curated show

Opening the 2011 FLEX Fest in Gainesville, FL, was a curated show by festival juror and Academy archivist, Mark Toscano. These works ranged from 1957-1975, and were all shown on 16mm, sans one early PortaPak video. What is most striking to me, upon reviewing the program after the fact, is that each film in itself represents a historical document that now lives beyond it’s time. Each film is a vignette of a time, an idea, a concept. We live and think based on the world around us, and experimental film, more than perhaps any other medium, takes us into the visual minds of the past. There is a pureness to experimental media that cannot be achieved by the superficial nature of narrative films, or even traditional documentaries. This is “cinema of the mind,” and it is a rare treat to see works made by true fringe, unheralded artists from times gone by-- films simply are not made like this in our current age, experimental or otherwise.

The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time known for “acid” films, which I’ve always found very misleading. While the vision for creating a particular piece may be encouraged by mind alternating substances, the technical process of creating a 16mm film is far too complex to be credited to them alone. And while a case can be made that viewing these films can be enhanced by substances, I would defiantly fist-fight anyone in the street who claimed they could not be fully enjoyed without.

Two of my favorite "acid" films in the program were Daina Krumins’ “Aether” (1972) and Ben Van Meter’s “SF Trips Festival” (1967). Both films were breathtakingly crisp on vibrant, deliciously reversal, 16mm film-- and represent a time and place when mind-expansion was much more en vogue, when there was more to our reality than body, car and iPhone. “Aether” is a candy apocalypse, terrorizing yet ever so sweet. A technicolor apparition from the center of the moon. If it were possible to see "aether" itself, not only as a gas compound, but as a real being with aspirations, conscious and soul-- it may very well look like this film.

“SF Trips Festival” documents an art festival in line with a more homespun “Burning Man.” This film consists of thee exposures on one reel of film stock, meaning that the film was exposed, rewound, re-exposed, rewound, and re-exposed again. The beauty of the film is that all three exposures are meticulous and calculated, yet fatefully random. One exposure is mainly color streaks and abstractions, while the other two contain more recognizable objects and people-- with Van Meter taking obvious care to frame each image to balance the overall final product. While the film is certainly “experimental,” there is a true organic documentary quality to the film, with a feel that you’ve been sucked into the scene rather than just examining the petri dish.

As a vintage video junkie, “Turning Over” (1975) by Morgan Fisher was a real thrill. It had a very deadpan William Wegman style, that just seems to shine in the light of grainy b/w videotape. Essentially, the video is a document of Fisher’s car “turning over” at 100,000 miles-- overly analyzed, hyper-hyped, hilarious in a British-comedy sort of way. Just as the old saying goes, “people remember you if you wear the same clothes every day,” people will also remember your film if it stretches a single moment out for 15 minutes. Love it!

Also worth mentioning, “Picasso” (1973), made as a sort of anti-homage to Pablo Picasso. Chis Langdon was said to be very disfavorable towards Picasso, and rapidly made this film within the scope of several hours. The most memorable part of the film is an inane, incessant looped recording of Picasso himself in his doddering years, mumbling something about children needing to do something or another. “King David” (1970) was an engaging documentary on a black egomaniac “Mr. T” style character in 1970s San Francisco, making me wish more filmmakers would champion their local eccentrics. Mike Henderson’s “Dufus” was a charming psuedo-documentary, staging variations of stereotyped black identities. At one point, Henderson flashes the “self” title card and childishly scampers into the frame, buck-naked and scared, as in a teenage anxiety dream. What is a self anyway? Are we to simply scroll down the list until we find the right persona? Who do you think YOU are, Bub?

Full program:
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2011
THE TOP SECRET SPACE , Gainesville, FL
CURATED SHOW: Mark Toscano

The Maltese Cross Movement (8:00/16MM/1967) Keewatin Dewdney
Logos (2:00/16MM/1957) Jane Conger Belson Shimane
Brummer’s (10:00/16MM/1967) David Bienstock
S.W.L.A. (6:00/16MM/1971) Rob Thompson
Aether (4:00/16MM/1972) Daina Krumins
Mirror People (5:00/16MM/1957) Kathy Rose
Picasso (3:00/16MM/1973) Chris Langdon
King David (9:00/16MM/1970) Robert Nelson & Mike Henderson
Turning Over (13:00/VIDEO/1975) Morgan Fisher
SF Trips Festival--An Opening (9:00/16MM/1967) Ben Van Meter
Dufus (8:00/16MM/1970/73) Mike Henderson
Throbs (7:00/16mm/1972) Fred Worden

Reviewed by d.anderson 2011

FLEX FEST




Just recently finished up nearly a full week at the 7th FLEX, Florida Experimental Film Festival, in Gainesville, FL. Roger Beebe is the founder/curator, and a longtime figure at various experimental fests-- including several times at Bearded Child, which toured to Gainesville several years back.

I’ve worried that ultra-alternative American cinema may be slipping for venues-- with note-worthies like MicroCineFest, PDX, CINEMATEXAS, HiMom!, Thaw in Iowa City and others disappearing or taking leaves in recent years. Thankfully, FLEX has been there to pick up the slack during these turbulent times, along with TIE, Experiments in Cinema and now newcomers like Strange Beauty. Roger strongly hints that his rein of terror may be coming to the end, but hopefully the vision will continue, as we NEED venues such as these for the sake of our fleeting intellectual underground culture.

As I can, I’ll post a few notes on the event, held Feb. 17-20, 2011.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

American Falls- Phil Solomon


I arrived in Gainesville, FL, a couple days before FLEX Fest to catch a rare viewing of Phil Solomon’s “American Falls.” Phil was a professor of mine at the University of Colorado, and a lifetime committed to abstract storytelling has granted him the rare ability to conceptualize life into art.

“American Falls,” shown at the University of Florida's Harm Museum as a three-image single projection, was originally commissioned as a larger-scale installation at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Know for utilizing celluloid-specific chemical processes to degrade images in order to strip them down to a transcendental “truth,” Solomon quipped that this digital project was his “farewell to cinema.” But in reality, the project may be described as a “welcome to new cinema.” This is a project that requires utilization of both film and video, as all footage was run through Solomon’s trademark film processes, yet requires a computer’s precision to sequence and justify properly. On screen are three images that relate, as a cinema sandwich, but combine to constitute a full meal. Unlike what would be achieved by three projections dictated by a single channel, Solomon will often offset the timing of images to create a wave, pop or flow. The dynamic nature of the chemical process and optical printing of the singular images rumbles the oculars alone, but combined with the rhythm of three oscillating and unified images, our sights are positively overwhelmed-- the further disassociation from plain vision allowing the viewer to strip away language and enter the realm of pure thought.

Thematically, there are no images that stretch beyond the late 1960's, but the project itself remains very contemporary. Artistically manipulating clips from the classic "Greed," with the Kennedy assassination and a wide array of iconic American images, there is a sense of unity and a defining struggle, a "barrow ride down the Niargra Falls."

Solomon began conception for "American Falls" at a time widely thought to be a low point for liberals and progressives, during the high point of the George W. Bush administration. However, the length of time needed to complete the work stretched into the beginning Obama years, altering its scope. Rather than “falling” endlessly into an abyss of regress and regrets, there is a fleeting sense of hope and perhaps even an eery “pride” for the entire culmination of what America has become. But yes, there is also a terror, a fear, an unknown. As water must hit the ocean floor, it must also be there to splash the surface. America will always change and adapt to the hauntings of the past, but what has gone will always remain, waiting to be rediscovered.

Solomon described his first visits to Washington in preparation for the project, and there is a clear sense that the ghosts of America touched his inner soul. The filmmaker thrives by carving down to the “impression” of the image, where often nothing can be seen but the bubbling outlines of a shadow. Here is where the essence lies. The ghosts of Capital Hill are speaking in his work, the pressure and power of leading a Nation whisper it’s regrets, conceits and triumphs faintly into the ears, through the eyes, and out of the Spirit.

Ah, America!

For more on this project, visit www.philsolomon.com

Reviewed by d.anderson 2011

Saturday, February 5, 2011

February events!

Friday, Feb 11- "Mental Mission" live set at Star Gallery in Hot Springs, Arkansas!

Thursday, Feb. 17- CINEPLOSION Ocular Analog Dance PArty**
after-event for FLEX, Florida Experimental Film/Video Festival, Gainesville, FL

Saturday, Feb. 19- "Emptiness in My Heart" CINEPLOSION original music video ** screens at Strange Beauty Festival in Durham, NC!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Modern Times

“And there was a time,” he thought, “when a copy of Eraserhead was so terribly hard to find. When all that we had were a very few scraggly, out-of-print tapes floating around, probably from when some long or half-defunct, single-office-smoking-lounge of a company, put out a few in the late 1970s.”

“But now,” he thought, “we must work so much harder to be original. And yet, that which is original is not properly recognized. We are overwhelmed with options. Our lives no longer lie, we have all the facts. We are the same as you in Moscow, Prague or Vancouver, BC. Yes, we are all connected as one; our selves categorized by one witty autobiographical paragraph. Yes, to live. Oh, to live," he thought.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

2010 Year in Review

Wow, it has finally come to an end, and....
WHAT A FUCKIN AMAZING AWESOME YEAR IT HAS BEEN FOR CINEPLOSION!!!!!!!!!

2010 was a monumental year, cummon now! We had to fire on all cylinders, and did everything possible to make the most of the precious time we have. Think you don't have enough time? Well this is the most you'll ever gunna get, buddy. Make'er count!

Here is a list of CINEPLOSION events and projects, or film related activities pertaining to CINEPLOSION associates. Please contact if you notice any errors or omissions.

*****
01/01 New Video: “Your Love So Cold” with William Blake Watson

01/01 New Video: “Sports on Fire”

01/09 “Your Love So Cold” and “Sports on Fire” at Arkansas Shorts, Malco Theatre, Hot Springs, AR

03/01 New Video: “Bird Nest”

03/17-03/21 Live Video Installation during VOV Music Fest, Hot Springs, AR

03/05 CINEPLOSION for No Funeral at The Exchange, Hot Springs, AR

04/30 Dan Anderson guest judge for UCA Film Fest, Conway, AR

05/07 CINEPLOSION with Blue Screen Skyline at Low Key Arts, Hot Springs, AR

06/04 CINEPLOSION “Point Break” at Low Key Arts, Hot Springs, AR

07/02 CINEPLOSION “The Outsiders” at Low Key Arts, Hot Springs, AR

08/13-8/15 Arkansas Underground Film Festival (programed by Dan Anderson), Malco/Low Key, Hot Springs, AR (most ambitious experimental/underground project of 2010)

08/21 “Sports on Fire” plays at Basement Media Festival, Cambridge, MA

08/21 Live Projections for Kitty Rhombus, Hawks & Oxen, Cemetery Improvement Society at Hexagon, Minneapolis, MN

08/28 CINEPLOSION and Bearded Child Film Festival, Medusa, Minneapolis, MN

09/06 Video Installation at The Gallery@404B, Hot Springs, AR

09/09 Mental Mission, Mission 1 “Happy Birthday Miss Arkansas” at The Exchange, Hot Springs, AR

09/11 Live Projections for Blue Screen Skyline at Maxine’s, Hot Springs, AR

09/15 Mental Mission, Mission 2 “Remember, I Love You” at The Exchange, Hot Springs, AR

09/17 CINEPLOSION Japanther After Party, above Low Key, Hot Springs, AR

09/23 Mental Mission, Mission 3 (failed) above Low Key, Hot Springs, AR

09/25 “Your Love So Cold” plays at Dallas Video Fest, Dallas, TX

10/11 Mental Mission, Mission 4 “Please Don’t Forget” at Low Key, Hot Springs, AR

10/15-10/24 19th Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (programed by Dan Anderson), Malco Theatre, Hot Springs, AR

11/05 Video Installation “Soaps” at Art Church, Hot Springs, AR

11/07 Mental Mission, Mission 5 above Low Key, Hot Springs, AR

11/09 New Video: “Emptiness in Your Heart” for Zak Solo

11/16 Mental Mission, Mission 6 live at The Dandy House, Fayetteville, AR

11/17 Mental Mission, Mission 7 live at The Lemon Drop, Springfield, MO

11/20 Mental Mission, Mission 8 live at Medusa, Minneapolis, MN

12/21 New Video: “Smithereens” for Gay Beast

*****
THANK YOU ALL and lets make 2011 the most amazingly badass collossal year ever!! The Revolution starts with YOU and ALL YOUR FRIENDS!! Oh thank heaven for 2011!!