NOTES

· I am inspired by Deren, since she is essentially the 1^st female avant garde filmmaker

· I’d consider my work to be experimental, multi-media use like those artists she has influenced

· I feel very similarly about Deren as they do

· I am prone to black and white photography/film

· Although this may be a cop-out for emotion today, it was all some of these artists had to work with and I think it was beneficial to the overall dark and gloomy affects, themes and concepts, symbols

· Deren always has an underlying mysterious motif for the viewer to actively play a role, be the camera

· Su Friedrich says that this part of Deren’s work allows the film to be more engaging -
“makes the experience more of a participatory sport than a passive one”

· Deren theme 1 = movement of the camera – its role, it is a character with its own unique perspective

· Deren theme 2 = the woman’s body and time sense – we have an advantage as women

· Deren theme 3 = time – it’s not 1 moment that’s important but what is continuously happening

· Deren theme 4 = utilization of space

· Theme 5 = nature and aesthetics

· MD says her major theme is “constant metamorphosis” – one image becomes the next, which then becomes the next

· Barbara Hammer calls this Deren’s “crossing of time and collapsing it”

· Barbara Hammer likes how Deren shows personal feelings in an individual way

o like Munstenburg’s "Why we go to the movies" in The Function of Photoplay

· Eisenstein’s montage theory editing involved the audience – we should actively engage and see the symbolic realizations

o Transference/ Synaesthesia ideas relate

WHY THESE STILLS?

· Looking back, I have come to realize that I enjoy both looking at multi-media art and creating it

· The combination of materials is more interesting to me, personally – more of a puzzle to figure out

· My UPenn collage almost eerily resembles Okanoue’s piece – which I had never seen before

· Building this piece was a creative and explorative experience for me

· I could build my own world, create my own story, characters, scenes

· It looks like she started off with a simple and architectural photograph and by placing a seductive leg cut-out, woman-headed bird, walking man, and woman’s head atop a building, she spoke without any words

· What I love bout art, especially art like this, is that the story I create in my head about these characters in “In Love” will completely differ the story of the spectator standing beside me in the gallery or museum

· Even if the viewer comes up with an idea far different than that of the artist, perhaps that wasn’t the artist’s intent = think what you want to think

· Art, after all, is a medium which allows freedom of expression and mind

· Which is probably why I enjoy studying film and art at school. I learned that you are never wrong. Your teacher or classmates may not agree with you but your individualized opinion is what matters most

· Without conversation and debate, art would be too mundane – it would crave some controversy

· Art needs differing perspectives to survive and evolve

· I like art that tells a story and progresses, makes you think and feel