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.
Overview
The term was coined by
P. Adams SitneyP. 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 SnowMichael Snow, CC is a Canadian artist working in painting, sculpture, video, films, photography, holography, drawing, books and music.-Life:...
,
Hollis 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...
,
George Landow (aka Owen Land),
Paul 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...
,
Tony ConradTony Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
,
Joyce WielandJoyce 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 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...
,
BirgitBirgit 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 KrenKurt 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 KubelkaPeter 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 PetersonSidney 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 BrakhageJames 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
structuralismStructuralism 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 MaciunasGeorge 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
FluxusFluxus—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 Flicker
The 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 Conrad is an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician/composer, sound artist, teacher and writer...
- Wavelength (1966–67) Michael Snow
Michael 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,G
T,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 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 Snow
Michael Snow, CC is a Canadian artist working in painting, sculpture, video, films, photography, holography, drawing, books and music.-Life:...
- Zorns Lemma (1970) 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...
- Serene Velocity
Serene 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 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 Comprehension
Remedial 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