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A History of Experimental Film and Video
Avant-garde film is almost indefinable. It is in a constant state of change and redefinition. In this book A.L. Rees tracks the movement of the film avant-garde between, on the one hand, the cinema, and, on the other hand, modern art (with its post-modern coda). But he also reconstitutes the film avant-garde as an independent form of art practice with its own internal logic and aesthetic discourse.
This is the first major history of avant-garde film and video to be published in more than twenty years. Ranging from Cezanne and dada, via Cocteau, Brakhage and Le Grice, to the new wave of British video artists in the 90s, this remarkable study will introduce a generation of new readers to avant-garde film as well as provoking students and specialists to further reflection and debate.
This is the first major history of avant-garde film and video to be published in more than twenty years. Ranging from Cezanne and dada, via Cocteau, Brakhage and Le Grice, to the new wave of British video artists in the 90s, this remarkable study will introduce a generation of new readers to avant-garde film as well as provoking students and specialists to further reflection and debate.
- GenresFilmArtNonfictionHistory
256 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 26, 2011
As someone who has little experience in artistic film-making and even less knowledge about it, A.L. Rees's A History of Experimental Film and Video is an encyclopedic account of just that: the history of experimental film and video.
It begins with a short preface about the aims of the book, a lengthy introduction defining what, exactly, "avant-garde" is throughout history. The book is then split into two parts, the first starting with the creation of the camera and photography and its development in America. In the second part, after a cunning segue, "A History" focuses on the film scene in Britain and the UK with the occasional mention of a German or French artist. It ends with a look at "contemporary" film-artists today, going as recent as 1998 (and with an original copyright date of 1999, that was fairly contemporary).
An obvious amount of effort and research was put into this volume, with a massive bibliography and over 150 end-notes. "A History" is, as I mentioned before, encyclopedic. As difficult as it is to write about such a complex visual medium, Rees is fairly effective. He or she is able to describe the events of films as well as critically analyze them. However, there are times when Rees's account may be as confusing as the film itself, and without access to the film or video, it is hard to tell. The plates were a help visually, but it would have been nice to have them dispersed throughout the text instead of in an insert. Since they were printed on the same type of paper as the text and in black and white--at in my 2008 print edition--there is no reason not to do this.
The language and style had high diction which, at times, toed the line between academic and arrogance. Lines like "the weight of cultural critique or rupture is therefore axially shifted from the mainstream to the marginal avant-gardes which haunt the fringes of conventional modernism" (93) are more ornamental than necessary, and "[the] concern poetic myth and illumination was displaced onto the formal place of light and colour, away from fictional diegetic space and the singular narrative subject" (67) encouraged my mind to wander. Despite the incredible amount of information laid out, it was sometimes overshadowed by the language.
Overall the book is comprehensive and, as far as textbooks go, pretty engaging. The distracting language and poor layout are setbacks, but I encourage anyone who is interested in or a student of film to read this book.
It begins with a short preface about the aims of the book, a lengthy introduction defining what, exactly, "avant-garde" is throughout history. The book is then split into two parts, the first starting with the creation of the camera and photography and its development in America. In the second part, after a cunning segue, "A History" focuses on the film scene in Britain and the UK with the occasional mention of a German or French artist. It ends with a look at "contemporary" film-artists today, going as recent as 1998 (and with an original copyright date of 1999, that was fairly contemporary).
An obvious amount of effort and research was put into this volume, with a massive bibliography and over 150 end-notes. "A History" is, as I mentioned before, encyclopedic. As difficult as it is to write about such a complex visual medium, Rees is fairly effective. He or she is able to describe the events of films as well as critically analyze them. However, there are times when Rees's account may be as confusing as the film itself, and without access to the film or video, it is hard to tell. The plates were a help visually, but it would have been nice to have them dispersed throughout the text instead of in an insert. Since they were printed on the same type of paper as the text and in black and white--at in my 2008 print edition--there is no reason not to do this.
The language and style had high diction which, at times, toed the line between academic and arrogance. Lines like "the weight of cultural critique or rupture is therefore axially shifted from the mainstream to the marginal avant-gardes which haunt the fringes of conventional modernism" (93) are more ornamental than necessary, and "[the] concern poetic myth and illumination was displaced onto the formal place of light and colour, away from fictional diegetic space and the singular narrative subject" (67) encouraged my mind to wander. Despite the incredible amount of information laid out, it was sometimes overshadowed by the language.
Overall the book is comprehensive and, as far as textbooks go, pretty engaging. The distracting language and poor layout are setbacks, but I encourage anyone who is interested in or a student of film to read this book.
January 16, 2023
Peaks early and at its absolute best when divulging the secrets of many a filmmakers metaphysical formula for the use of a light (and occasionally sound) machine, but quickly becomes a bit of a repository for the writers personal anecdotes of dealings with said filmmakers.
Nonetheless a useful resource for correlating some of the bigger (and not too few) of the smaller figures of the underground and avant-garde.
Nonetheless a useful resource for correlating some of the bigger (and not too few) of the smaller figures of the underground and avant-garde.
February 4, 2022
Indispensable as a reading/watching list, intelligent and good-natured in commentary, unimaginably accelerated as history. Despite warning in advance of this fact in the introduction, it’s really this book’s biggest flaw - it’s a 120 page sprint with 25 more pages of notes and citations, and I found myself wishing for a little more depth and breathing room.
April 19, 2025
Expanding my experimental film knowledge
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews