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Tuesday, Oct 7, 2003
7:30
THE CINEMA OF ERNIE GEHR, PROGRAM 1
Field (1970). The frame encloses a rush of diagonal streaks in black and white without any distinguishable depth or recognizable imagery....Gehr deliberately transformed the natural landscape into (a) perceptual paradox.-P. Adams Sitney (9.5 mins, Silent, B&W, 16mm)
Mirage (1981). The filmmaker replaced the lens of his Bolex with a semicircular piece of plastic found in a Canal Street junk bin....The resulting footage is surely the most disorienting negation of Renaissance perspective afforded by any film since (Gehr's 1970 film) History.-J. Hoberman (8 mins, Color, 16mm)
Serene Velocity (1970). Gehr created a stunning head-on motion by systematically shifting the focal length of a stationary zoom lens as it stared down the center of an empty, modernistic hallway. Without ever moving the camera, Gehr turned the fluorescent geometry of this institutional corridor into a sort of pistol-powered mandala....A literal “Shock Corridor.”-J. Hoberman (23 mins, Silent, B&W, 16mm)
Crystal Palace (2002). A heavy snowstorm provides the blanket and the spark, but it's really “between the frames” (to use film language) that sets the crystals on fire and unmasks this winter landscape populated by felt yet otherwise unseen forces and creatures-both real and imagined.-E. G. (28 mins, Color, Mini-DV)
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