Claire Burch
Encyclopedia
Claire Burch was an American author, filmmaker and poet
.
course at Washington Irving High School
in Manhattan
and received her B.A. in English from NYU
. In the suburbs of Great Neck, New York
, she first began writing poetry and articles which were published in Life magazine
, The New Republic
, Mademoiselle
, McCall's
, and numerous literary quarterlies and anthologies. Burch also developed a career as a psychiatric writer, publishing two books on the subject: Careers in Psychiatry and Stranger in the Family.
In the early 1970s Burch became a playwright
and painter
. Her play Ten Cents a Dance was optioned to be directed by José Quintero
, the famous O'Neill
interpreter. Burch wrote a total of seven plays and several folk operas, but eventually moved on to filmmaking and video anthropology--she was an early adapter of video as a medium.
In 1978, Burch moved to California with her longtime companion Mark Weiman, publisher and owner of Berkeley
's Regent Press. She had endured a series of illnesses and wanted to escape the harsh climate of Manhattan.
Burch gained insight and inspiration from insanity and the often unexpected behavior associated with it. She would often videotape homeless people in People’s Park
and Telegraph Avenue
in Berkeley. Burch thus captured portraits of people that most others would cross the street to avoid. She also produced documentaries on noted cultural figures such as James Baldwin
(whom she knew as a teenager), Timothy Leary
and Country Joe McDonald
. Also of note was Oracle Rising, a film about the legendary psychedelic newspaper The SF Oracle published in the Haight-Ashbury district during the Summer of Love
. Her last completed film was Elegy for the Naked Guy, about the life and death of Andrew Martinez
, a well-known figure on the Berkeley campus in the mid-'90s who died in prison in 2007.
Late in life Burch suffered a stroke
which took most of her vision, but she was able to retain enough sight to frame her subjects. She died before completing her final project, Gimme an 'F', a documentary on Country Joe McDonald and the song that helped end the Vietnam War
, the "Fuck Cheer" from Woodstock
, and the "Fixin’ to Die Rag." The film is estimated to be 70% complete.
.
(a dozen published books and thousands of pages of unpublished manuscripts); music
(thousands of hours of reel-to-reel, cassette tapes of her original music and hundreds of songs); and a huge library of both edited and unedited film
and video
, representing her habit of recording about an hour of reality every day for the past 36 years. This last project creates an archival nightmare, as there is not enough time to view it all. Burch was fond of referring to the Collyer Brothers
, a pair of New Yorkers who suffered from a fear of throwing anything away and filled their apartment from top to bottom. She would often mockingly refer to her own archival efforts in the same vein.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
History
After attending grade school in Brooklyn, Burch completed a commercial artCommercial art
Commercial art is historically a subsector of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. The term has become increasingly anachronistic in favor of more contemporary terms such as graphic design and advertising art.Commercial art traditionally...
course at Washington Irving High School
Washington Irving High School (New York City)
Washington Irving High School is located at 40 Irving Place between East 16th and 17th Streets the lower part of the New York City borough of Manhattan...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and received her B.A. in English from NYU
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. In the suburbs of Great Neck, New York
Great Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
, she first began writing poetry and articles which were published in Life magazine
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
, The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, Mademoiselle
Mademoiselle (magazine)
Mademoiselle was an influential women's magazine first published in 1935 by Street and Smith and later acquired by Condé Nast Publications....
, McCall's
McCall's
McCall's was a monthly American women's magazine that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-format magazine called The Queen in 1873...
, and numerous literary quarterlies and anthologies. Burch also developed a career as a psychiatric writer, publishing two books on the subject: Careers in Psychiatry and Stranger in the Family.
In the early 1970s Burch became a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. Her play Ten Cents a Dance was optioned to be directed by José Quintero
José Quintero
José Benjamin Quintero was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill.-Early years:...
, the famous O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
interpreter. Burch wrote a total of seven plays and several folk operas, but eventually moved on to filmmaking and video anthropology--she was an early adapter of video as a medium.
In 1978, Burch moved to California with her longtime companion Mark Weiman, publisher and owner of Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
's Regent Press. She had endured a series of illnesses and wanted to escape the harsh climate of Manhattan.
Burch gained insight and inspiration from insanity and the often unexpected behavior associated with it. She would often videotape homeless people in People’s Park
People's Park (Berkeley)
People's Park in Berkeley, California, USA, is a park off Telegraph Avenue, bounded by Haste and Bowditch streets and Dwight Way, near the University of California, Berkeley. The park was created during the radical political activism of the late 1960s....
and Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, USA, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California campus in Berkeley, California...
in Berkeley. Burch thus captured portraits of people that most others would cross the street to avoid. She also produced documentaries on noted cultural figures such as James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
(whom she knew as a teenager), Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
and Country Joe McDonald
Country Joe McDonald
Country Joe McDonald is an American musician who was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish.-Personal life:...
. Also of note was Oracle Rising, a film about the legendary psychedelic newspaper The SF Oracle published in the Haight-Ashbury district during the Summer of Love
Summer of Love
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...
. Her last completed film was Elegy for the Naked Guy, about the life and death of Andrew Martinez
Andrew Martinez
Luis Andrew Martinez commonly known as Andrew Martinez, was an activist who achieved fame at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was known as the Naked Guy.-Early fame:...
, a well-known figure on the Berkeley campus in the mid-'90s who died in prison in 2007.
Late in life Burch suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
which took most of her vision, but she was able to retain enough sight to frame her subjects. She died before completing her final project, Gimme an 'F', a documentary on Country Joe McDonald and the song that helped end the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, the "Fuck Cheer" from Woodstock
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
, and the "Fixin’ to Die Rag." The film is estimated to be 70% complete.
Family
At 18, Burch married a soldier and the couple raised three children in Great Neck. When her husband died in 1967, she and her kids moved to the West Village. Burch's interest in psychiatry bloomed after she adopted a child who was diagnosed with schizophreniaSchizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
.
Drug use
Burch underwent a traditional four-times-weekly Freudian analysis before switching to marijuana and LSD in the early 1970s. She was a recreational marijuana user throughout her life.Death
Burch died at the age of 84. She left behind a vast archive in almost every media--visual art (painting and drawing); writingWriting
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
(a dozen published books and thousands of pages of unpublished manuscripts); music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
(thousands of hours of reel-to-reel, cassette tapes of her original music and hundreds of songs); and a huge library of both edited and unedited film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
, representing her habit of recording about an hour of reality every day for the past 36 years. This last project creates an archival nightmare, as there is not enough time to view it all. Burch was fond of referring to the Collyer Brothers
Collyer brothers
Homer Lusk Collyer and Langley Wakeman Collyer , known as the Collyer brothers, were two American brothers who became famous because of their bizarre nature and compulsive hoarding...
, a pair of New Yorkers who suffered from a fear of throwing anything away and filled their apartment from top to bottom. She would often mockingly refer to her own archival efforts in the same vein.