Works In The Field1978

WORKS IN THE FIELD consists of a series of short films which make use of computer generated mattes to break up and reconstitute mountain landscapes, Manhattan cityscapes, images from POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY, ARTFORUM covers, and a TV news program. When this is combined with a found documentary about a family life in Malaysia, the film becomes an essay on reading. The computer grid subdivides the screen into a system of rectangles which can be opened or closed. When opened, we see what is directly underneath the rectangle; when closed, we see a black block. Both the size and the speed at which the blocks opens or close can be regulated. The effect is like an accelerated game of Concentration. The open rectangles allow us to catch glimpses of images behind them. Initially it interferes with our ability to recognize objects but after a while it allows recognition. This recognition is thereby freed from the Renaissance perspective built into the photographic lens. The peculiar juxtaposition of the gridded sections and the Malaysia footage formulates an inquiry into the nature of meaning and representation in cinema.