The Flaherty by Patricia R. Zimmermann

Author:Patricia R. Zimmermann [Zimmermann, Patricia R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780253026248
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2017-01-15T07:00:00+00:00

1984 BRUCE CONNER—ON TEN SECOND FILM (1965), PERMIAN STRATA (1969), MONGOLOID (1978), AND AMERICA IS WAITING (1981)

D. Marie Grieco: Bruce, did you want to say something?

Conner: Yes, I wanted to tell you that the first three films that you saw were my first three films. A Movie made in 1958; Cosmic Ray, in 1961–62. Looking for Mushrooms was shot about the same time as Cosmic Ray, but the final edit was two years later. The last two films you saw today, Mongoloid [1978] and America Is Waiting [1981], are the last two I’ve made.

You may be wondering about the titles on a number of the movies. The first one you saw this evening was Ten Second Film from 1965; it was made up of ten strips of film, each of them twenty-four frames in length, that were collected onto one format that could be shown as a logo for the New York Film Festival in 1965. The film wasn’t used; the committee rejected it because they felt it went too fast. I offered to let them measure the film so they could prove to themselves that it didn’t go any faster than twenty-four frames a second, but they weren’t interested. The strips were used on a poster for the film festival.

Grieco: I’m sure you know that Bloomingdales put the framed poster in some of their rooms. I bought the last one Lincoln Center had.

Conner: Permian Strata was made in 1969; “Permian strata” refers to the sedimentary rock that is found in Kansas, where I grew up.

Grieco: Do you want to say something about the music in Mongoloid? Those in my generation might not know Devo.

Conner: Toni Basel has worked with David Byrne and she’s done choreography for Elvis Presley and Bette Midler, and all sorts of Hollywood people; she’s had a couple of records out recently, and she’s a marvelous video artist. I made a film with her, which you’ll see later: Breakaway [1966]. Toni called me in San Francisco in 1977 and told me I should go see what she said was currently the greatest rock and roll band in the United States: Devo. I went to see them and loved the band; it seemed like a whole new style of rock and roll. Within two months, I had made a film of their song, “Mongoloid.”

The main forces in the group are Jerry Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh (each has a brother named Bob, also in the group). Devo has a sort of industrial sound that reflected their growing up in Akron, Ohio; it was partly robotics and partly mechanics. They do songs about their own experiences, and in fact, the song “Mongoloid” is basically autobiographical. Mark Mothersbaugh, who wrote the song and sings it, was thought to be a mongoloid when he was a small child, so he’s singing about himself.

So, is there a question?

F: Do you have to get music rights? Also, how do you get your stock footage?

Conner: Basically, I’m setting black-and-white period pieces to contemporary music.

The footage comes from the 16mm collection I’ve gathered over the years.

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