George Maciunas was the founder of the 'anti-art, pro-chance' Fluxus Movement, and Artype is a simple but mesmeric short film from 1966, one of many made by him and his associates as an accompaniment to the numerous parties, shows, happenings and freakouts organised, attended and no doubt thoroughly enjoyed by the cream of the 1960s American Avant Garde.
Dead Shadow, d. Andrzej Klimowski (1980)
A fragment of an abstract dream - although this is, by far, the most interesting part of a dull-ish whole.
From Sweet Rhythms, d. Kazimierz Urbanski (1965)
A short film ostensibly about aspects of bee keeping, with added abstract visual effects, and music by Krzysztof Penderecki. What more could anyone possibly require?
Sam Sobie Sterem, d. Katarzyna Latallo (1971)
I've seen a few translations of the original Polish title, mainly variations of 'I'm in Control'. But this hapless looking gentleman isn't in control of anything, least of all himself and his environment, as the director places him in a series of unnatural settings (a void, the pages of a book, underground) and makes him gyrate and perform, all the while flooding the frame with psychedelic colour and solarisation effects. It's pleasing to note that the director is a woman, and this is the early seventies, so it makes a change to see a bloke being messed about.
Dresden Dynamo, d. Lis Rhodes (1971)
While still a student at North East London Polytechnic, Lis Rhodes applied a range of Letratone stickers directly onto 16mm film and used filters to create red and blue colours. No camera was used.
On projection, the stickers create a range of unusual and atonal sounds: buzzes, fuzz, bleeps and throbs, and these random sounds complement the pulsing images as if by design.
Rhodes said later: 'It was an attempt to make a material connection between what is seen and what is heard. The image is the sound.'
If any of you are familiar with my musical project, Beam Weapons, and ever wondered what inspires some of the noises we make, simply watch this film, a source of ongoing inspiration.
Supplemental: Dynamo Dresden are a German football team formed in 1953, originally affiliated to the East German Police, then the Stasi, the secret police and state security agency. Highly successful during the lifespan of the DDR, often by nefarious means (intimidating referees, transfer fixing, blackmail, violence and murder) they have fared less well since reunification, and currently play in the German Third Division.
