I would suggest Scott MacDonald's books "Adventures of Perception" University of California Press 2009 and "Avant Garde Film/Motion Studies" Cambridge Univ. press 1993 and P. Adams Sitneys "Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943-2000" Third Edition, Oxford Univ. Press 2002.
I have taught these books in seminars on the history of the avant garde cinema at Colgate University and they worked very well. John Knecht On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:38 PM, Jonathan Walley <wall...@denison.edu>wrote: > Scott (et. al.), > > Your CRITICAL CINEMA books are extremely useful, in part because they are, > indeed, reader friendly. I would say that about MOTION STUDIES, too. I hope > it's clear that my point was that I don't think there is a single broad > historical survey of avant-garde cinema, so that anyone who wishes to teach > a survey course on the subject must cull together material from different > sources, including most definitely your books. I've used several of your > interviews and other writings in classes I've taught, as well as in my own > research. > > Maybe it's wrongheaded of me to hope for a "complete" history - and as I > suggested in my last post, anyone who attempted such a thing would probably > be in for a lot of flack. I don't know that a historical survey ala > Bordwell/Thompson's or David Cook's would ever find a publisher: no matter > how broad such a study would be, it would still be too narrow and > specialized to be appealing as a textbook to an academic publisher. And > perhaps the very idea is anathema to the avant-garde spirit. Imagine the > "for dummies"-style prose of a college textbook (MgGraw-Hill's "The Big > Book of Avant-Garde Cinema") applied to Brakhage, or Frampton, or Rainer - > yikes. But I would still like to see, one of these days, a broad, > synthetic, and straightforward account of the subject, as it might > encourage more teaching of this kind of cinema at the college or even high > school level. > > Best, > Jonathan > > > On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:10 PM, <sc...@financialcleansing.com> wrote: > >> *Jonathan,* >> * I've always hoped that my Critical Cinema books might be useful for >> undergraduates as introductory texts. They do not pretend to provide >> anything like a "complete" history, but these volumes can provide a sense >> of the world of avant-garde cinema and the thinking of (some of) the >> filmmakers who have energized this particular world of cinema.* >> * >> * >> *Scott* >> >> -------- Original Message -------- >> Subject: Re: [Frameworks] textbook recommendation >> From: Jonathan Walley <wall...@denison.edu> >> Date: Sat, May 11, 2013 7:13 am >> To: Experimental Film Discussion List <frameworks@jonasmekasfilms.com> >> >> Dear Joan (and Frameworkers), >> >> I hope people respond on-list, as this is a perennial problem for anyone >> teaching undergraduate courses on avant-garde cinema. To my knowledge, >> there is not a good general history of AGF, much less one accessible to >> students with little or no background in the subject (or related subjects >> like art history). Indeed, I can't think of any book that purports to offer >> such a history - the closest I can think of is A.L. Rees's A HISTORY OF >> EXPERIMENTAL FILM AND VIDEO, which, while fascinating, is a little advanced >> for uninitiated readers, and leaves off in the 1970s before going on to >> focus specifically on British practice. Despite its title, it's a little >> scattershot historically (which I say as an admirer of the book and of >> Rees's work generally). >> >> Any other text that comes to mind is focused on specific periods, >> nations, filmmakers, or themes. For this reason, I've always cobbled >> together my reading lists for such classes in the same way you're doing - >> journal essays, book chapters, artist interviews, online stuff, etc. >> >> This is "the history we need," as they say; I've always wondered why >> there isn't such a book. And I've thought about writing one. Perhaps it >> seems like too pragmatic, or too simplistic, an endeavor for avant-garde-y >> folks, or perhaps it's the fear of backlash against such a project, which >> would necessarily oversimplify, leave out worthy filmmakers, suffer from >> blind spots, etc. Maybe the controversy over VISIONARY FILM, and the >> related "Essential Cinema" canon, has made subsequent scholars wary of >> taking on a synthetic, general historical account of the subject. >> >> I have only skimmed it, but Michael O'Pray's AVANT-GARDE FILM: FORMS, >> THEMES, AND PASSIONS is probably worth looking at. >> >> Anyway, probably not a terribly helpful response, but confirmation that >> there are others out there who have the same problem. So I do hope others >> on this list will chime in publicly. >> >> Best, >> Jonathan >> >> On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 9:24 AM, Joan Hawkins <jchaw...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Dear Frameworkers,I'll be teaching a History of the American Avant-garde >>> class in the fall (there'll be 2 weeks of early cinema and then we'll move >>> quickly into the 1942-present period) -- and I would like to have a good >>> history to use as the basic text, to be supplemented with journal essays, >>> artist's essays etc. Is there a text you'd recommend, preferably one that >>> discusses some of the major critical responses to the films as well as >>> the films themselves? >>> >>> The class will be offered to juniors and seniors, with very little >>> experimental film background or experience. There will be a production for >>> component for students who sign up for it (so students can take the history >>> course alone or take an experimental production course in conjunction with >>> my crit/hist class). Feel free to respond to me offlist. >>> Many thanks, Joan >>> >>> -- >>> Joan Hawkins >>> Associate Professor >>> Indiana University >>> Dept of Communication and Culture >>> 800 E. Third St >>> Bloomington, IN 47405 >>> >>> office phone 812-855-1548 >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> FrameWorks mailing list >>> FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com >>> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> Jonathan Walley >> Associate Professor >> Department of Cinema >> Denison University >> wall...@denison.edu >> ------------------------------ >> _______________________________________________ >> FrameWorks mailing list >> FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com >> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> FrameWorks mailing list >> FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com >> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >> >> > > > -- > Jonathan Walley > Associate Professor > Department of Cinema > Denison University > wall...@denison.edu > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > > -- John Knecht, Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of Art and Art History and Film and Media Studies
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