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
