While AVA has been silent lately, some of us on the road, some writing for forthcoming projects (and yet others continuing to create video art at a pace I’m still trying to catch up with), it sucks that a reason for a new writing is yet another RIP…
This time it’s Amos Vogel, who sort of wrote the Bible document of underground film, entitled FILM AS A SUBVERSIVE ART. I once wrote a letter to Nick Zedd in the mid 90′s asking his recommendations for learning/seeing more underground things, the first recommendation he listed in his handwritten letter back to me was Vogel’s book.
For a while it seemed to be out of print, and even when the internet gave birth to Amazon and online booksellers I recall used copies going for a few hundred bucks. It since went down in price, but now I see it’s going for 50 or so used, perhaps due to the recent passing.
Jon Jost whose short film was featured in Vogel’s book, wrote a nice, and concise write up over on his blog, both on Amos Vogel and the state, or non state, of subversive art cinema
His death comes at a time when the commercialization of everything in the name of “the Market Economy” has bludgeoned the kind of cinema he supported into a near-death coma. I imagine he looked at the “independent” cinema which in its various guises and labels of the last few decades, as a sad denouement for the kinds of work he dreamed of, a sign that indeed the insidious forces at work in “the Market Economy” reduced most young filmmakers to imagining that a modest shift in television sit-com formulas constitutes “creativity.”
still from “RE: Reply To zenarcher’s “Challenge Met” Video” by Zed Archie
This is how the Absurdist B Sides end up being created. They are works that have spilled over the sides and onto new surfaces, where a new audience resides. An audience which wouldn’t have been reached otherwise. This new “audience” is forced, and sometimes fooled, into experiencing Absurdism in a different way or a different medium, usually more “accessible”. This exposure would have never been accomplished if the work remained inside the familiar glass. And in some cases the real satire is revealed as such, not in the work itself but in the reaction and comments about the work. (original post about “B-SIDES” here)
ELIENATION and ZED ARCHIE
A few years back Eli Elliott ventured into the satirical video response world of YouTube where his compulsion to respond creatively spilled him over onto a new surface: the audiences of two very popular YouTube personalities. He mocked a video vlogging war which was occurring during the time, involving a self inferring ZEN master of sorts who was hawking for money to write a book, and a rational thinking YouTube personality who called out the Zen masters fraudulent antics, eventually declaring “CHECKMATE” to his opponent as thousands of viewers eagerly watched the back and forth YouTubian drama unfold. Elliott then stepped in, satirically mocking the situation, and the comments that resulted from his new audience ranged from “best YouTube spoof EVER” to further riled up reaction regarding the heated vlogger war taking place.
You of course needed an insider understanding in order to comprehend Eli’s mocking, which proved that a new surface had, in fact, been breached; for the first time it was an actual mainstream crowd which was forced to view Elliott’s work, but in a setting or theme which was familiar and easy for them to digest.
When emailed about this Eli responded that it sort of scared him, as suddenly people were messaging him saying how he should definitely do more of these: “basically they were urging me to become a popular “thing” on YouTube…where you create the funny-ha-ha effect type videos..thinking of that pressure to please masses in that way made me stop after a few of these..”
Your videos are brilliant. What a pity that you’ve not made a video in over a year.
Truly one of the greatest videos to ever hit YT..lfmao…lol…lol….great
lol even zen liked it.. mad work man.. u seemed to express urself like nicholas cage a bit in that.. was cool.
“Satanic Kids Puking on the Bible” Andy Heck Boyd, 2011
When they’ve immersed themselves fully in their usual outlets for creation, a holding capacity seems to be breached, and when that compulsion hits, then an overflow occurs. They often find themselves blindly branching out to places they normally would never have bothered with, out of sheer compulsion to do so, rather than some sort of engineered “creative exploration”.
….(In some cases) they choose to create in an entirely different medium altogether.
Due to a wrist injury forcing a break from animating, but more so I believe the aforementioned compulsory spill over effect, Andy Heck Boydbegan painting, and in turn cranking out, work after work after work. He recently picked up his video cam and has begun showcasing his B Side outlet for Absurdism, which has reached a new surface of outsider art afficiondo’s, many who likely never saw the video art animated side of Boyd, but are now willing to not only view, but also shell out money for many of Andy’s canvases. Here’s a montage of recent artwork starting with “Inside Bugs Bunny’s Dumpster” and ending with “Pretty Girl Go Poo” (aka”Girl Shitting”).
the hyougono heckler with
the Peter the Painter wanted to hole him,
was consistently practising the first of the primary
and imprescriptible liberties of the pacific subject by circulating
still from “Epti Spirit Channeling 2″ by Dick White
Creative impulsion is a common thread that The Absurdists featured on AVA all have in common. It’s what drives them to continually pump out massive amounts of work usually unseen in the practice of “regular” artists. But it is also what leads many to go overboard; creating in ways which stray them from the Absurdist Video Art side of things, in which they’re good at, and more at home with.
When they’ve immersed themselves fully in their usual outlets for creation, a holding capacity seems to be breached, and when that compulsion hits, then an overflow occurs. They often find themselves blindly branching out to places they normally would never have bothered with, out of sheer compulsion to do so, rather than some sort of engineered “creative exploration”.
Just as water is poured into a glass reaching the rim to full capacity, it’s at this point the pouring needs to cease. But if there is a compulsion, if one cant’ help oneself, then the pouring will continue, and water will spill over the sides, down the exterior and onto a new surface, unfamiliar to the bubbled interior world of the original glass container.
This is how the Absurdist B Sides end up being created. They are works that have spilled over the sides and onto new surfaces, where a new audience resides. An audience which wouldn’t have been reached otherwise. This new “audience” is forced, and sometimes fooled, into experiencing Absurdism in a different way or a different medium, usually more “accessible”. This exposure would have never been accomplished if the work remained inside the familiar glass. And in some cases the real satire is revealed as such, not in the work itself but in the reaction and comments about the work.
The irony is that The Absurdists didn’t intend to “reach a new or different audience.” They basically were just restless. In some cases, instead of setting up lights and gathering the usual co-conspirators to create, they simply pull the trigger on a cheap webcam, and warp into some other world. In other cases they choose to create in an entirely different medium altogether. And in others the medium and the set ups are the same, but the theme and content are completely different, usually in response to something.
Here is the first round of B-sides from AV artists who’ve overflowed into different territories or immersed themselves onto different mediums.
DICK WHITE EPTI
With constant filming, writing, and editing, you’d think this American Films/Collapse co-founder would have his plate full. But somehow his compulsion for Absurd expression, spilled over and gave birth to Dick White, a mystical “medium” average joe who’s been chosen by “the other side” to communicate important cryptic messages like, everyone should start wearing yellow.
This webcam based creation spurred thousand of views, all emanating from a new surface. And in turn it spawned dozens of comments, both siding with Dick, empathizing with his new found gift as a medium, and those who became furious with Dick, calling him out as a fraud with bad editing skills.
You are so gifted. I pray for the power to do this..
I do mediumship, this makes me want to vomit. I have had spirits come to me, and never was I not myself. never had I channeled to have to speak to them. this is ridicioulous.
Do you realise what a complete and utter fool you have made yourself look. You tried one of the most amateurish attempts at ‘attention seeking’ that i have ever seen. You dont even know how to operate editing software. BUSTED.
Watch as “Dick” responds to the negative comments received in the first video, while attempting to further convince the new audience of his channeling skills, as a strange image emerges after the 3 minute mark and he instructs followers to partake in a 3 day fast.
Bro, i dont know if you reviewed this video before uploading it and shit, but around 3:30 or so theres some sorta something hovering to your right side..its like your image and shit and its like your tryin to get the fuck away from the epti dude who’s taken over your body and all that..crazy shit man!
Hi Dick, thankyou for living your truth. It takes much to trust as you have done. Please do not look at people’s comments as to how consciousness is shifting from these channelings. don’t make assumptions. The toning was great, integral part of the energetic activations occurring. All I can feel from the Epti energy is love, wisdom eagerness. Consciousness is very layered, multidimensional and profound, and not linear. Having said that it’s also very simple as Epti’s instructions are.
“Divorce,”the short video piece by director Kelly Broich (who may also be one of the strangest satirists working today), featuring Fran Valentine and Eli Elliott, is yet another astute critique of one of our social institutions. I don’t know, but after watching this video I fear that by the time the Collapse cult is through with us we’ll be stripped of all our illusions (and clothes) and forced into a nude identity-crisis. This time the folks at Collapse have chosen to challenge one of our culture’s oldest and most sacred institutions, marriage.
Valentine repeats “Divorce, divorce, divorce” over and over again until the word seems to lose all meaning, though the emotional significance to the viewer is undoubtedly striking. The word divorce is practically a demonic word to many. Nobody likes saying it or hearing it, but hearing it reiterated in this way, combined with the short looped minimalist electronic soundtrack, achieves the effect of reminding us that it’s just a fucking word like any other.
Near the end the video flashes to an artfully done experimental fight montage consisting of quick choppy cuts showing Elliott and Valentine in a kitchen, and ends with the strong yet simple statement, “Get the fuck out of my house!” — definitively bitch-slapping two-hundred thousand years of patriarchal oppression. On a subjective level, roughly fifty percent of viewers will relate to being trapped like a caged lunatic in an asylum of marital dysfunction.
Today over half of all marriages end in divorce. The rest in death. Divorce is a pandemic sweeping our country like mouth herpes. The chart to the left cites the most common reasons for divorce.
However, not all hope is lost. There exists an effective tool for fixing nearly any relationship, no matter how far gone. I’m talking about the how-to book entitled The Magic of Making Up, which can be purchased for thirty-nine dollars at http://www.magicofmakingup.com.
Other books make ridiculous claims, but none of them really do the trick. The methods found in The Magic of MakingUp are based on years of exhaustive, peer-reviewed, focus grouped research in the field of relationship repair. I bought this book last year and it was worth every cent. I have never felt more loved.
Don’t let divorce rip apart your marriage and drive you to drink or into a second-marriage which will statistically probably end in divorce. Remember life is short—YOU ARE GOING TO DIE—just like most of today’s marriages. I highly recommend watching “Divorce” with your mate to remind them of what can happen.
Brian Burks is a relationship critic at Healing Hearts.
What scares the shit out of me is that I know a Jerry Jeffers who fits our protagonist’s profile. He’s on SSI, takes psychotropic meds and always has a “business” dealio to offer. Gadzooks you fucks, get out of my head! – clvngodess
COLLAPSE Theater (American Films) continues to churn out new work, while performing re-edits on often missed older works. The latest re-issue is from 2005, entitled LOVE FLOATS MY BOAT. This piece was a gem in its original form, and now tighter and somehow even more bizarre, it made a fresh debut this New Years Eve at an art gallery in Boise, Idaho.
Featuring Kelly Broich and Brett Netson, with cinematography by Casey Broich, LFMB is about “Jerry Jeffers”, a groupie who wants to set up a concert for his favorite one hit wonder band, JACKPOT, so he enlists the help of an angel investor, “Burtrom Casey”. Burtrom meets Mr. Jeffers at his home on Ray Way (an actual mobile home in a trailer park where American Films shot most of their early work, now occupied by Collapse actor Sam Stimpert). While listening to Jeffers stammer on about the concert proposal, while Jeffers dances around, plays with scissors and tries to learn Spanish from tape, Burtrom eventually calls him out as an unstable, crazed lunatic of sorts, and denies him the deal. A melee ensues where Jeffers goes from getting more and more pissed, to settling back down and trying to start over. Jeffers attempts to sit up straight, put the music aside, and talk some business, “okay, let me tighten up, we’re doing business now!”
In typical American Films “what the fuck” fashion, the message of art versus commerce takes an absurd twist. The would be investor Burtrom suddenly switching gears, pulls out…The Book of Mormon. Passages are recited and Jeffers is carefully monitored by Burtrom for any signs that the message of Mormonism is sinking in.
“Loved the Mormon bit. Backmasking & apophenia! I knew there were references I didn’t even notice as such.” – from demiurge, Kenneth Freeman.
One of those references is Burtrom’s vomiting cut in between his readings from the Book of Mormon. Current event relevancy is worth mentioning since an individual running for the U.S. Presidency, the barely hanging on to lead front runner Mitt Romney, has all the generic image qualities for the “President brand”; the only problem is that little purple elephant that no one can seem to get past: he’s a Mormon. The reason no one can get pass it is the same reason Burtrom’s vomiting is placed on a level playing field to that of his reciting of Mormon passage. Both acts come out as incoherent gibberish. The Book of Mormon is filled with complete and utter nonsense.
LOVE FLOATS MY BOAT does a 360 on the viewer; it initially settles us in on believing the lunatic here is the nervous poverty stricken penny saving Jeffers. But then the true lunacy is revealed: money and religion. There is a shot of Jeffers sitting in disbelief, glasses resting on nose, mouth open staring silent at the preaching nonsense before him; suddenly we relate to his situation, as we see the convoluted driving force behind Burtrom Casey. And eventually Jeffers does, in fact, figure out the game: Mormons don’t do business unless you’re a Mormon.
see a docter mayb??
