Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file (24 min.)) ; sound, color with black and white sequences |
Summary |
A haunting and evocative film by the photographic master of mystic innuendo, Duane Michals. This film is divided into sections, some of which reproduce in Michals' well-known photographic stories, sequential images that add up to form a narrative. "The Bogeyman" is a child's nightmare in photo-animation. Did it happen, or not? Then we get to a cryptic message from the artist, as though from beyond the grave (hence the title "1939 - 1997"). We watch over the artist's shoulder as he writes "It is no accident you are reading this, I am making black marks on white paper, these are my thoughts." This brings another concern of Michals'; the act of writing, which has predominated in his exhibitions. "The Human Condition" shows the subway stop immolation of a young man who turns into a galaxy, stressing the spiritual nature of existence. The artist's voice returns: "A failed attempt to photograph reality -- to photograph reality is to photograph nothing -- I can only fail." Other sections: "People Eat People," "The Spirit Leaves The Body," "Things Are Queer," "The Pleasures Of The Glove," and "Chance Meeting" -- all deal with perception, reality, phenomenology. They also provoke thoughts of change, and above all, mortality: "He was becoming silence." In the final sequence, Michals reveals his "guardian angel" in a burst of unexpected color |
Notes |
Title from title frames |
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In Process Record |
Event |
Originally produced by Checkerboard Film Foundation in 1978 |
Notes |
In English |
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Closed-captioned in English |
Subject |
Michals, Duane.
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SUBJECT |
Michals, Duane. fast (OCoLC)fst00010468 |
Genre/Form |
Experimental films.
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Documentary films.
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Internet videos.
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Short films.
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Experimental films.
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Documentary films.
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Short films.
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Internet videos.
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Films expérimentaux.
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Documentaires.
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Courts métrages.
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Vidéos sur Internet.
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Form |
Streaming video
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Author |
Haimes, Ted, filmmaker.
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Howard, Edgar B., filmmaker.
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Michals, Duane.
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Tuckernuck Productions.
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Suydam Productions.
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Kanopy (Firm)
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