Craig Baldwin
Encyclopedia
Craig Baldwin is an American experimental filmmaker. He uses “found” footage from the fringes of popular consciousness as well as images from the mass media
to undermine and transform the traditional documentary, infusing it with the energy of high-speed montage and a provocative commentary that targets subjects from intellectual property rights to rampant consumerism
.
and grew up in nearby Sacramento
. He attended college at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of California at Davis. He later earned an M.A. from San Francisco State University
in 1986. It was there, in San Francisco State’s Cinema Department, that he first became interested in collage film during his studies under Bruce Conner
, a filmmaker famous for his artwork of scraps, which extend beyond film into traditional collage
, sculpture
, and photography
. He is also a professor at the University of California at Davis.
As Baldwin developed his use of found imagery, he came across the theories of the Situationist International (SI). Baldwin was also exploring art that was occurring outside of the traditional and more socially acceptable forms of high art, such as zine
s, mail art
and altered billboards. Though he finished his first 16mm film, Wild Gunman
, in 1978, he had explored his (rather Situationist) desires to eradicate the borderlines between fine and popular art, public and private imagery, the political and the purely aesthetic in several film and photo-essay projects, notably Flick Skin (1977), a Super-8 film that Baldwin made while living in the projectionist booth at a porn theater. Pieced together from the scraps of film that were left lying around the theater, it was with this film that Baldwin began to really develop his style of rebranding
images.
Another of his early works, Stolen Movie, could be called performance art or guerilla theater. He stormed into mainstream movie theaters, filmed the images off the screen, and then quickly ran out the back with his loot. Integrating clips from the mainstream media became another one of his techniques to reveal the truth behind the normalized spectacle
: he used their own footage to parody the implicit message, unseating the common notions associated with the imagery.
In addition to his clear roots in the SI, Baldwin admittedly owes to the Beat poets as well. He expresses gratitude for the role they played in establishing the youth counterculture of the time as a force situated firmly outside of the mainstream. Acting on what he calls a "cultural response to the middle-class lifestyle", Baldwin spent some time hitchhiking and hopping freight trains.
A large supporter of Baldwin’s work is Film Threat
magazine, a publication devoted to independent film which started as a ‘zine in 1984 and continued its life on the internet after it stopped printing in 1997. The common link amongst the Film Threat crowd is that they are mostly working on small projects with minimal budgets
and crews and therefore must utilize and adapt whatever happens to be around to accomplish their work. This school, which Baldwin calls "cinema povera" (the cinema of poverty), began with his teacher, Conner, and continues with him and others, including Bill Daniel
, Greta Snider, Eric Saks and Lori Surfer.
Aside from his travelling, Baldwin has spent his life in San Francisco and has played an integral role in establishing an independent film scene in the city’s Mission District. He helped establish Other Cinema, a film program series hosted at Artists' Television Access
that promotes the work of both emerging and established artists working in the style of cinema povera. Other Cinema Digital was established in 2003 to provide distribution for films by independent, underground and experimental filmmakers. Baldwin has also emerged as somewhat of an activist for the re-evaluation of copyright and intellectual property laws. He said that:
whose music was a satirical collage of popular tunes. They had gotten into trouble for violating copyright laws when they sampled a U2
song. Baldwin’s 1995 film, Sonic Outlaws, focuses on the controversy surrounding the case. More structured than most of his other films, the documentary is put together from footage of interviews with a wide variety of Baldwin’s fellow media jammers and raises questions about the validity of the current system of controlling “intellectual property.”
Wild Gunman (1978) is an intense montage of cowboy images, pop-cultural scenes and advertising intercut with footage and images of the geopolitical crisis driven by cultural and political imperialism
.
He took his commentary and technique a step further in RocketKitKongoKit (1986), a film which traces Zaire
’s horrific post-independence history with found footage
and a speedy voiceover, incriminating everyone from Mobutu and the CIA to the American popular mainstream and German arms makers, all the while maintaining the grim humor he has become known for.
Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1991), perhaps his most well-known film, is a parody of CIA interventions in developing countries as well as a critique of paranoia and conspiracy theories, presented as a faux-mockumentary that tells the revisionist history of alien intervention in Latin America
in 99 brief ramblings.
Baldwin’s last film before Sonic Outlaws was O Coronado! (1992), a retelling of the invasion of the American southwest in the mid-16th century. The film is as much a critique of the contemporary media portrayals of the conquest as it is a commentary on the conquest itself.
Baldwin’s 1999 film, Spectres of the Spectrum, is a science fiction allegory which tells the story of a young woman with telepathic powers, who travels back in time to save the world from an electro-magnetic pulse. The film takes a cautionary stance against the media outlets in charge of creating and perpetuating the popular mainstream, and in doing so, follows the trajectory, through collage, of media from its beginnings to the present.
In 2008, Baldwin began screening his newest film, Mock Up On Mu, a fictional story based heavily on the real facts of the lives of L. Ron Hubbard
, Marjorie Cameron
, Aleister Crowley
, and Jack Parsons
.
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
to undermine and transform the traditional documentary, infusing it with the energy of high-speed montage and a provocative commentary that targets subjects from intellectual property rights to rampant consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
.
Life and work
Craig Baldwin was born in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
and grew up in nearby Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. He attended college at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of California at Davis. He later earned an M.A. from San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
in 1986. It was there, in San Francisco State’s Cinema Department, that he first became interested in collage film during his studies under Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner was an American artist renowned for his work in assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography, among other disciplines.-Early life:...
, a filmmaker famous for his artwork of scraps, which extend beyond film into traditional collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
. He is also a professor at the University of California at Davis.
As Baldwin developed his use of found imagery, he came across the theories of the Situationist International (SI). Baldwin was also exploring art that was occurring outside of the traditional and more socially acceptable forms of high art, such as zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
s, mail art
Mail art
Mail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...
and altered billboards. Though he finished his first 16mm film, Wild Gunman
Wild Gunman
is a light gun shooter game created by Nintendo.-Early version:The original version of Wild Gunman was one of Nintendo's electro-mechanical arcade games created by Gunpei Yokoi and released in 1974. It consisted of a light gun connected to a 16mm projection screen...
, in 1978, he had explored his (rather Situationist) desires to eradicate the borderlines between fine and popular art, public and private imagery, the political and the purely aesthetic in several film and photo-essay projects, notably Flick Skin (1977), a Super-8 film that Baldwin made while living in the projectionist booth at a porn theater. Pieced together from the scraps of film that were left lying around the theater, it was with this film that Baldwin began to really develop his style of rebranding
Rebranding
Rebranding is the creation of a new name, term, symbol, design, or a combination of them for an established brand with the intention of developing a differentiated position in the mind of stakeholders and competitors....
images.
Another of his early works, Stolen Movie, could be called performance art or guerilla theater. He stormed into mainstream movie theaters, filmed the images off the screen, and then quickly ran out the back with his loot. Integrating clips from the mainstream media became another one of his techniques to reveal the truth behind the normalized spectacle
Spectacle
In general, spectacle refers to an event that is memorable for the appearance it creates. Derived in Middle English from c. 1340 as "specially prepared or arranged display" it was borrowed from Old French spectacle, itself a reflection of the Latin spectaculum "a show" from spectare "to view,...
: he used their own footage to parody the implicit message, unseating the common notions associated with the imagery.
In addition to his clear roots in the SI, Baldwin admittedly owes to the Beat poets as well. He expresses gratitude for the role they played in establishing the youth counterculture of the time as a force situated firmly outside of the mainstream. Acting on what he calls a "cultural response to the middle-class lifestyle", Baldwin spent some time hitchhiking and hopping freight trains.
A large supporter of Baldwin’s work is Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
magazine, a publication devoted to independent film which started as a ‘zine in 1984 and continued its life on the internet after it stopped printing in 1997. The common link amongst the Film Threat crowd is that they are mostly working on small projects with minimal budgets
No budget film
A no budget film is a produced film made with very little, or no money.Young directors starting out in filmmaking commonly use this method because there are few other options available to them at that point. All the actors and technicians are employed without remuneration, and the films are largely...
and crews and therefore must utilize and adapt whatever happens to be around to accomplish their work. This school, which Baldwin calls "cinema povera" (the cinema of poverty), began with his teacher, Conner, and continues with him and others, including Bill Daniel
Bill Daniel (Filmmaker)
Bill Daniel is an American experimental documentary film artist, photographer, film editor, and cinematographer. He is also an installation artist, curator and former zine publisher...
, Greta Snider, Eric Saks and Lori Surfer.
Aside from his travelling, Baldwin has spent his life in San Francisco and has played an integral role in establishing an independent film scene in the city’s Mission District. He helped establish Other Cinema, a film program series hosted at Artists' Television Access
Artists' Television Access
Artists' Television Access is a non-profit art gallery and screening venue in San Francisco's Mission District in the United States of America. ATA exhibits work by emerging, independent and experimental artists in its theatre and gallery space as well as on its weekly Public-access television...
that promotes the work of both emerging and established artists working in the style of cinema povera. Other Cinema Digital was established in 2003 to provide distribution for films by independent, underground and experimental filmmakers. Baldwin has also emerged as somewhat of an activist for the re-evaluation of copyright and intellectual property laws. He said that:
Major works
In 1995, Baldwin rushed to support a band named NegativlandNegativland
Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...
whose music was a satirical collage of popular tunes. They had gotten into trouble for violating copyright laws when they sampled a U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
song. Baldwin’s 1995 film, Sonic Outlaws, focuses on the controversy surrounding the case. More structured than most of his other films, the documentary is put together from footage of interviews with a wide variety of Baldwin’s fellow media jammers and raises questions about the validity of the current system of controlling “intellectual property.”
Wild Gunman (1978) is an intense montage of cowboy images, pop-cultural scenes and advertising intercut with footage and images of the geopolitical crisis driven by cultural and political imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
.
He took his commentary and technique a step further in RocketKitKongoKit (1986), a film which traces Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
’s horrific post-independence history with found footage
Found footage
Found footage is a filmmaking term which describes a method of compiling films partly or entirely of footage which has not been created by the filmmaker, and changing its meaning by placing it in a new context. It should not be mistaken for documentary or compilation films. It is also not to be...
and a speedy voiceover, incriminating everyone from Mobutu and the CIA to the American popular mainstream and German arms makers, all the while maintaining the grim humor he has become known for.
Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1991), perhaps his most well-known film, is a parody of CIA interventions in developing countries as well as a critique of paranoia and conspiracy theories, presented as a faux-mockumentary that tells the revisionist history of alien intervention in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
in 99 brief ramblings.
Baldwin’s last film before Sonic Outlaws was O Coronado! (1992), a retelling of the invasion of the American southwest in the mid-16th century. The film is as much a critique of the contemporary media portrayals of the conquest as it is a commentary on the conquest itself.
Baldwin’s 1999 film, Spectres of the Spectrum, is a science fiction allegory which tells the story of a young woman with telepathic powers, who travels back in time to save the world from an electro-magnetic pulse. The film takes a cautionary stance against the media outlets in charge of creating and perpetuating the popular mainstream, and in doing so, follows the trajectory, through collage, of media from its beginnings to the present.
In 2008, Baldwin began screening his newest film, Mock Up On Mu, a fictional story based heavily on the real facts of the lives of L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
, Marjorie Cameron
Marjorie Cameron
Marjorie Cameron Parsons Kimmel was an artist, occultist, actress, and wife of rocket pioneer and occultist Jack Parsons. Cameron played a major role in the 1946 Babalon Working ritual.-Biography:...
, Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
, and Jack Parsons
Jack Parsons
John Whiteside Parsons , better known as Jack Parsons, was an American rocket propulsion researcher at the California Institute of Technology. He was one of the principal founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Aerojet Corp...
.