Structural film
Encyclopedia
Structural film was an experimental film movement prominent in the US in the 1960s and which developed into the Structural/materialist films in the UK in the 1970s.
who noted that film artists such as Michael Snow
, Hollis Frampton
, George Landow (aka Owen Land), Paul Sharits
, Tony Conrad
, Joyce Wieland
, Ernie Gehr
, Birgit
and Wilhelm Hein, Kurt Kren
, and Peter Kubelka
had moved away from the complex and condensed forms of cinema practiced by such artists as Sidney Peterson
and Stan Brakhage
. "Structural film" artists pursued instead a more simplified, sometimes even predetermined art. The shape of the film was crucial, the content peripheral. This term should not be confused with the literary and philosophical term structuralism
.
It has been noted by George Maciunas
that these characteristics are also present in Fluxus
films.
Overview
The term was coined by P. Adams SitneyP. Adams Sitney
P. Adams Sitney , is a historian of American avant-garde cinema.-Life:He was educated in his hometown, at Yale University...
who noted that film artists such as Michael Snow
Michael Snow
Michael Snow, CC is a Canadian artist working in painting, sculpture, video, films, photography, holography, drawing, books and music.-Life:...
, Hollis Frampton
Hollis Frampton
Hollis Frampton was an American avant-garde filmmaker, photographer, writer/theoretician, and pioneer of digital art.-Early years:Frampton was born March 11, 1936 in Wooster, Ohio...
, George Landow (aka Owen Land), Paul Sharits
Paul Sharits
Paul Jeffrey Sharits Paul Sharits was a visual artist, best known for his work in "experimental" or avant-garde filmmaking, particularly what became known as the Structural film movement, along with artists such as Tony Conrad, Hollis Frampton, and Michael Snow.His film work primarily focused on...
, Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad
Tony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
, Joyce Wieland
Joyce Wieland
Joyce Wieland, OC was a Canadian experimental filmmaker and mixed media artist.-Life:Joyce Wieland was an experimental filmmaker and artist, whose work challenged and bridged boundaries among avant garde film factions of her time...
, Ernie Gehr
Ernie Gehr
Ernie Gehr is an American experimental filmmaker closely associated with the Structural film movement of the 1970s. A self-taught artist, Gehr was inspired to begin making films in the 1960s after chancing upon a screening of a Stan Brakhage film. Gehr's film Serene Velocity has been selected...
, Birgit
Birgit Hein
Birgit Hein is a German film director, producer and screenwriter who has made experimental films with her husband Wilhelm Hein since the 1960s.-Biography:...
and Wilhelm Hein, Kurt Kren
Kurt Kren
Kurt Kren was an Austrian avantgarde filmmaker. He is best known for his involvement with the Vienna Aktionists and the group of films that resulted.-Biography:...
, and Peter Kubelka
Peter Kubelka
Peter Kubelka is an Austrian experimental filmmaker. His films are primarily short experiments in linking seemingly disparate sound and images...
had moved away from the complex and condensed forms of cinema practiced by such artists as Sidney Peterson
Sidney Peterson
Sidney Peterson was an American author, artist, and avant-garde filmmaker. He attended UC Berkeley, worked as a newspaper reporter in Monterey, and spent time as a practicing painter and sculptor in France in the 1920s and 1930s...
and Stan Brakhage
Stan Brakhage
James Stanley Brakhage , better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American non-narrative filmmaker who is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th century experimental film....
. "Structural film" artists pursued instead a more simplified, sometimes even predetermined art. The shape of the film was crucial, the content peripheral. This term should not be confused with the literary and philosophical term structuralism
Structuralism
Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism...
.
Characteristics
Sitney identified four formal characteristics common in Structural films, but all four characteristics are not usually present in any single film:- fixed camera position (an apparently fixed framing)
- flicker effect (strobing due to the intermittent nature of film)
- loop printing
- rephotography (off the screen)
It has been noted by George Maciunas
George Maciunas
George Maciunas was a Lithuanian-born American artist. He was a founding member of Fluxus, an international community of artists, architects, composers, and designers...
that these characteristics are also present in Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
films.
Key Films
- The FlickerThe FlickerThe Flicker is an experimental film created in 1965 by Tony Conrad. The film consists of only 5 different frames, a warning frame, two title frames, a black frame, and a white frame. It is currently being re-made digitally into a compact computer program by Tony Conrad's son...
(1965) Tony ConradTony ConradTony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer... - Wavelength (1966–67) Michael SnowMichael SnowMichael Snow, CC is a Canadian artist working in painting, sculpture, video, films, photography, holography, drawing, books and music.-Life:...
- T,O,U,C,H,I,N,GT,O,U,C,H,I,N,GT,O,U,C,H,I,N,G is a 12-minute short film directed by Paul Sharits in 1968. It uses many of the strategies characteristic of the structural film movement, including a static frame, flicker effects, flash frames and continual audio and visual repetition...
(1968) Paul SharitsPaul SharitsPaul Jeffrey Sharits Paul Sharits was a visual artist, best known for his work in "experimental" or avant-garde filmmaking, particularly what became known as the Structural film movement, along with artists such as Tony Conrad, Hollis Frampton, and Michael Snow.His film work primarily focused on... - One Second in Montreal (1969) Michael SnowMichael SnowMichael Snow, CC is a Canadian artist working in painting, sculpture, video, films, photography, holography, drawing, books and music.-Life:...
- Zorns Lemma (1970) Hollis FramptonHollis FramptonHollis Frampton was an American avant-garde filmmaker, photographer, writer/theoretician, and pioneer of digital art.-Early years:Frampton was born March 11, 1936 in Wooster, Ohio...
- Serene VelocitySerene VelocitySerene Velocity is a 1970 American experimental short film. It was directed by Ernie Gehr and filmed in the basement hallway of a Binghamton University academic building....
(1970) Ernie GehrErnie GehrErnie Gehr is an American experimental filmmaker closely associated with the Structural film movement of the 1970s. A self-taught artist, Gehr was inspired to begin making films in the 1960s after chancing upon a screening of a Stan Brakhage film. Gehr's film Serene Velocity has been selected... - Remedial Reading ComprehensionRemedial Reading ComprehensionRemedial Reading Comprehension is an experimental short film by Owen Land, produced in 1970.-Description:Remedial Reading Comprehension takes the form of an ephemeral or educational film...
(1971) George Landow