Clarke Mackey
Encyclopedia
Clarke Mackey is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker, author and educator. His 1971 feature film The Only Thing You Know is considered a key film in the early period of Canadian cinema
.
In the last three decades Mackey has focused his filmmaking and writing on vernacular culture
. His book on the topic, Random Acts of Culture: Reclaiming Art and Community in the 21st Century, was published in 2010. Mackey teaches in the Department of Film and Media at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario
.
shooting style and improvised dialogue. It won two Canadian Film Awards, including the award for Best Actress, in 1971. It was restored and released on DVD with commentaries and additional material in 2006.
Clarke Mackey was one of four cinematographers on the 1970 Canadian concert film Festival Express
featuring Janis Joplin
, the Grateful Dead
and The Band
, that was not released until 2003, 33 years after the original event. Mackey’s documentary A Right to Live (1977) is called "one of the key moments in the history of committed documentary in Canada."
In the 1980s, Mackey directed several episodes of the Emmy Award
-winning TV series Degrassi Junior High
. His second feature, Taking Care, won a Canadian Film and Television Association Award as Best Feature and was nominated for the Best Actress Genie Award
in 1988. Target, a pioneering project in digital interactive drama which Mackey directed, won him a CINDY Award (Association of Visual Communicators, Los Angeles) in 1989.
in many forms. Dance on the Edge, Mackey's third feature, an experimental documentary about a vernacular celebration, premiered at the Figueira da Foz International Film Festival in Portugal in 1996. His innovative documentary website Memory Palace: Vernacular Culture in the Digital Age was nominated for a WebSage Streamers Award and was featured in Forbes
magazine (1999). Mackey worked without a crew or lights to produce an intimate profile of three very poor communities in Mexico called Disrobing the Emperor: The New Commons in Mexico (2000). Eyes in the Back of Your Head (2003) was made in collaboration with ex-federal inmates in Kingston, Ontario.
Mackey’s 2010 book Random Acts of Culture: Reclaiming Art and Community in the 21st Century documents his decades-long fascination with vernacular culture and outlines how he has come to understand it. The book argues that, in addition to fine art
and mass culture, there is a third category of cultural expression that is often misunderstood: vernacular culture. This includes many creative, non-instrumental activities that provide meaning in life: conversations
between friends, social gatherings and rituals, play
and participatory sports
, informal storytelling
, musical jam sessions
, cooking
and gardening
, homemade architecture, and street festivals. It maintains that practising and celebrating such activities more – at the expense of passive, consumer culture – would have far-reaching benefits for people and communities.
. ISBN 9781897071649.
Canadian cinema
Canadian cinema refers to the filmmaking industry in Canada. Canada is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities: Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Industries and communities tend to be regional and niche in nature...
.
In the last three decades Mackey has focused his filmmaking and writing on vernacular culture
Vernacular culture
Vernacular culture is a term used in the modern study of geography and cultural studies. It refers to cultural forms made and organised by ordinary, indigenous people for their own pleasure, in modern societies...
. His book on the topic, Random Acts of Culture: Reclaiming Art and Community in the 21st Century, was published in 2010. Mackey teaches in the Department of Film and Media at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
.
Early Works
When Mackey produced his first feature at the age of 19 he had already produced four short films, three of which had been broadcast on national television. That feature film, The Only Thing You Know (1971), tells the story of a teenage girl’s attempts at independence using a documentaryDocumentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
shooting style and improvised dialogue. It won two Canadian Film Awards, including the award for Best Actress, in 1971. It was restored and released on DVD with commentaries and additional material in 2006.
Clarke Mackey was one of four cinematographers on the 1970 Canadian concert film Festival Express
Festival Express
Festival Express is a 2003 documentary film about the eponymous 1970 train tour across Canada taken by some of North America's most popular rock bands, including The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends...
featuring Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
and The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, that was not released until 2003, 33 years after the original event. Mackey’s documentary A Right to Live (1977) is called "one of the key moments in the history of committed documentary in Canada."
In the 1980s, Mackey directed several episodes of the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning TV series Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High
Degrassi Junior High is a Canadian CBC Television teen drama series that was produced from 1987-1989 as part of the Degrassi series. The show followed the lives of a group of students attending the titular fictional school...
. His second feature, Taking Care, won a Canadian Film and Television Association Award as Best Feature and was nominated for the Best Actress Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
in 1988. Target, a pioneering project in digital interactive drama which Mackey directed, won him a CINDY Award (Association of Visual Communicators, Los Angeles) in 1989.
Work in Vernacular Culture
In the early 1980s Mackey “took a six-year sabbatical” from his career as a Canadian filmmaker to work with children in a nursery school. After this experience, Mackey focused much of his personal work on exploring vernacular cultureVernacular culture
Vernacular culture is a term used in the modern study of geography and cultural studies. It refers to cultural forms made and organised by ordinary, indigenous people for their own pleasure, in modern societies...
in many forms. Dance on the Edge, Mackey's third feature, an experimental documentary about a vernacular celebration, premiered at the Figueira da Foz International Film Festival in Portugal in 1996. His innovative documentary website Memory Palace: Vernacular Culture in the Digital Age was nominated for a WebSage Streamers Award and was featured in Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
magazine (1999). Mackey worked without a crew or lights to produce an intimate profile of three very poor communities in Mexico called Disrobing the Emperor: The New Commons in Mexico (2000). Eyes in the Back of Your Head (2003) was made in collaboration with ex-federal inmates in Kingston, Ontario.
Mackey’s 2010 book Random Acts of Culture: Reclaiming Art and Community in the 21st Century documents his decades-long fascination with vernacular culture and outlines how he has come to understand it. The book argues that, in addition to fine art
Fine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
and mass culture, there is a third category of cultural expression that is often misunderstood: vernacular culture. This includes many creative, non-instrumental activities that provide meaning in life: conversations
Conversations
Conversations is the second album from alternative rock band Roses Are Red.-Track listing:# "White and Gold" # "I Felt I Knew Her" # "Time Signals Progress" # "Oceans" # "I Apologize" # "12:34"...
between friends, social gatherings and rituals, play
Play (activity)
Play is a term employed in ethology and psychology to describe to a range of voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities normally associated with pleasure and enjoyment...
and participatory sports
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
, informal storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
, musical jam sessions
Jam Sessions
Jam Sessions is a guitar simulation software title and music game for the Nintendo DS based on the Japan-only title Sing & Play DS Guitar M-06 originally developed by Plato. It was brought to North America and Europe, courtesy of Ubisoft...
, cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
and gardening
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
, homemade architecture, and street festivals. It maintains that practising and celebrating such activities more – at the expense of passive, consumer culture – would have far-reaching benefits for people and communities.
Television and Film
- On Nothing Days (1967)
- RuinsRuins (disambiguation)Ruins are the remains of man-made architecture.Ruins or ruin may refer to:*The Ruin , a period in Ukrainian history after the death of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 1657*Ruin , a Swedish publishing house and magazine...
(1968) - GrassGrass (disambiguation)Grass may refer to:Plants:* Grass, a common name for plants with narrow blade-shaped leaves* Any of a number of plants in the family Poaceae with narrow blade-shaped leaves, or other unrelated plants of similar appearance...
(1968) - Mihi P. (1969)
- The Only Thing You Know (1970)
- A Right To Live (1975)
- All Day Long (1983)
- Pulling Flowers (1984)
- Taking Care (1987)
- Dance on the Edge (1995)
- Disrobing the Emperor (2000)
- Eyes in the Back of Your Head (2003)
- New Season Coming (2008)
Books
Random Acts of Culture: Reclaiming Art and Community in the 21st Century (2010). Toronto: Between the LinesBetween The Lines Books
Between the Lines is an independent publisher in Canada.BTL publishes Canadian-authored non-fiction, most of which offers a critical perspective on culture, economics, and society...
. ISBN 9781897071649.