Films from the 80s

Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Alice Aycock, Scott Burton, Peter Campus, Chuck Close, Nancy Graves, Joseph Kosuth, Gordon Matta-Clark, Mary Miss, Elizabeth Murray, Dennis Oppenheim, Dorothea Rockburne, Joel Shapiro. Consultants Nancy Rosen, Roberta Smith, Robert Pincus-Witten, and Rosalind Krauss. Narrated by the Artists.

Linked by a desire for the unknown and an increasingly explorative use of materials, the artists featured in 14 Americans: Directions of the 1970s strive to push boundaries and observe the space we occupy. Through performances, sculptures, earthworks, furniture, and shaped canvases, artists such as Mary Miss and Scott Burton expand the meaning of art and strive to reshape our approach to creation.

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Art Films by Michael Blackwood Productions

When photography was in its infancy, the American West was still a frontier; and, for a period of about fifty years, the two interacted in a complex and fascinating way. Dramatic subject matter in the West became accessible to photographers just when the newly-discovered wet-plate process enabled them to work outdoors. Thereafter, Western explorers consistently used photography to record their discoveries. It was primarily through the resulting photographs that the frontier became known. Ironically, these early images hastened the demise of the frontier they so beautifully documented.

Light in the West rediscovers this empire through the eyes (and camera lenses) of the extraordinary men who were the first photographers to venture west. At a time when making photographs was as difficult as traveling in uncharted wilderness, these men truly were pioneers.

The photographers in Light in the West are now recognized as masters of photography. The film's narration consists of extracts from their diaries which chronicle their explorations.

Douglas Dunn, Kenneth King, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, David Gordon, Meredith Monk, Sarah Rudner. Curated by Marcia B. Siegel. Narrated by the choreographers.

Made in 1980, this film explores the contemporary dance scene through the work of seven New York-based choreographers. They discuss the nature of dance and the evolution of their own work. Filmed at rehearsals, performances, and during interviews, the film is a unique primary source. The artistic roots of these seven artists can be found in Martha Graham's concern with modern life as a subject for dance and in Merce Cunningham's emphasis on the nature of movement. In the 1960s, the interaction of art forms generated choreographic innovations. Especially influential was John Cage, whose radical ideas served as a point of departure for much of the new choreography. Each of the choreographers in Making Dances draws inspiration from the Graham/Cunningham tradition, yet each makes a highly distinctive statement. Structure, movement in non-fictive time and space, and the nature of movement itself are recurring themes. Making Dances reflects the diversity of contemporary dance and documents the work and ideas of seven outstanding artists.

Late in life, the artist looks back over a career that originated in social realism during the '30s, moved to the center of Abstract Expressionism, and culminated in a return to figuration. Filmed at his retrospective in San Francisco in 1980 and at his Woodstock studio, where Guston is seen painting, the artist speaks candidly about his philosophy of painting and the psychological motivation for his work.

For more information about Philip Guston and his work, visit: michaelblackwoodproductions.com/old/artm_gustontext.php