culture

James Baldwin and Richard Avendon

Being Black and Black and White

I was reminded of Avendon and Baldwin by a Monoskop reference to the book ‘Nothing Personal’. I had this paperback copy because, well, at the time (late sixties) to be up with pop-culture, you had to.

Travelling with Basho - to the deep north

A travelling companion

Basho’s travel writing give us insight into what drove this poet to keep searching for meaning and enlightenment. It inspired lots of experimental film titles, including some of mine, here’s one. Explained.

RMIT SRC 50 Years Reunion

A Catalyst photographer returns

In 2016, a group of the original 1966 RMIT SRC were invited back for a 50 years Anniversary. I said yes, and I’ll take some video. People change in fifty years, some more than others.

Hugh McSpedden

Light. Show. Artist

Hugh McSpedden was always part of the Melbourne alternative film community from the early days of the Film Co-op. His light shows were integral to the T.F. Much Ballroom and other concerts I attended. I’m finding bits in my film archives of him, so I’ve started this page.

J-L.Godard

Everything is cinema

“Truffaut’s ‘The 400 Blows’ was only the setup. ‘Breathless’ was the knockout blow. If ‘The 400 Blows’ was the February revolution, ‘Breathless’ was October.” Richard Brody.

Uncle Tungsten

A chemical childhood

I finished reading Oliver Sack’s story of his ‘chemical’ boyhood some time before I wrote this. My response to the book (as it was for my English mate Norman) was ‘Yes! I felt just like that as a boy’.

Vietnam Moratoriums - Melbourne

The movies 1970, 1971

Two films, one Super 8 from 1971, and one Standard 8 consisting of two earlier anti-Vietnam war marches. Both of these will be transferred in higher quality and have music added but they need to be here before I get time and money to do that.

SYTE magazine - Launch review

From MM magazine September 1996

I think Tony Sarno has created another monster, this one may be Godzilla and stomp across standard newspaper conventions, and it might have to battle to win its own audience. On the positive side, almost like Godzilla, there’s going to be a new episode every week and that’s a lot of opportunity to get it right.

Tin

Not so tinny. From the archive.

This started as a gallery of my toy robots until I began musing on why I collected them. That brought up all the usual stuff, god, drugs, sex, myths and creativity. It was originally made in Flash in 1998.

Bruce Conner

Film Maker, Artist, so so poet

We’d seen some of Conner’s movies during the Co-op days but it is this lecture by Stan Brakhage on Conner at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, April 1973, that gives you a greater understanding of him as an artist. There’s links to videos.

Shirley Jacobs in performance

Villa Maria concert

Like all my ‘commercial’ assignments they were opportunities to make more personal work, some of which ended up in my class portfolios. This was a performance at an aged care home.

The Melbourne Filmmakers Cooperative

Rewinding some history

John Hughes has got it almost right in his piece on the rise and fall of the film cooperatives.  I’m conspicuous by my absence but it doesn’t matter and I’m grateful for him documenting things I’ve stopped remembering.

It’s a fantasy as old as Genesis:

The promise of the apocalypse. With a big enough flood, one gets to start over completely.

Stolen goods

Original thoughts

If you closely examine the men of the quill
And search for goods stolen with sharp piercing eyes…

Proposal for a Film Gallery

I curated an exhibition at the Hawthorn Art Gallery in 1979. It ran for two weeks, I bought the wine and cheese, the projector, U-matic and paid for some telecine transfers.

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