Domestic - Selected Films & Videos 1981-20012005

These experimental films and videos were shot in the house, out the window, in the yard, down the road, etc., in the rural Oley Valley (near Reading, Pa.) where I live. They span a little more than two decades and range from super-8 to 16mm blow-ups, to silent and in-camera-edited-sync-sound super-8's (some of the rephotographed), to more recent videos that are often layered and image-processed. All of them are hopefully lyrics of high visual intensity that celebrate the expressive potential of the medium they were created in and the simple grace of taking pleasure in seeing and hearing the world (the loss of which is increasingly threatened in the sad times [2005] we are living through). SHADOW HUNTING (1981, Shot on S-8mm, 2 min., silent)- exploiting the painterly 'smear' quality of undercranked, 6fps projected S-8: Shadow hunts, I follow. PIE PLATES (1980, Shot on S-8, transfered to 16mm, 5:44 min.)- a John Cage inspired (his work for prepared piano accompanies the visuals) backyard, yin/yang, optically printed meditation. ("a lingering impression of harmony using a minimal amount of footage" - Linda Gross, L. A. Times) FONTANA (1988, S-8mm, 4:09 min.) - in the shadow: after the grotesque fountains I saw in Rome. S-8 DIARY: WILDWOOD (1988, S-8mm, 2:23 min.) - a Sunday drive down the Jersey shore and back which we often did when Linda's parents (from Wildhood) were alive. CINESONGS FOR STORM DE HIRSCH (1990, S-8mm, 10:55 min.) - homage to one of the pioneers of experimental S-8, Storm De Hirsch; seasonal images arising and fading simultaneously (shown in MOMA's "Big as Life: An American History of 8mm Films" program). OLEY (1993, Hi-8 video, 10 min, silent & sound) - harvest time in the Oley Valley. WITCHWAY (1995, Hi-8 video, 7:12 min. silent & sound) - under the feedback-spell of an Oley spirit and her familiar.("... deftly uses themes from Penna. folklore to create a powerfully haunting and chilling descent into an autumnal netherworld."-Albert Kilchesty) OUTSIDE IN (1995, Hi-8 video, 8:59 min.) - an interior/exterior domestic meditation. LOTUS SONG 2 (2000, mini-DV, 6:47 min.) - the second part of the life-cycle of a Lotus and its surround; a song of natural artifice. IMAGINARY POND WITH REAL FROGS (2001, mini-DV, 8:44 min.) - after Marianne Moore's definition of poetry as "the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads." SONATA (2001, mini-DVD, 3:27 min.), sil.) - visual music to "soothe the scythe" (Ed Sanders); a reaction to 9/11. ("Your work was such a treat - so lyric and voluptuous in color." –Donna Cameron)