Philip Stewart Solomon (January 3, 1954 – April 20, 2019) was an American

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

maker noted for his work with both film and video. In recent years, Solomon had earned acclaim for a series of films that incorporate

machinima Machinima () is the use of Real-time computing, real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. The word "Machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''machine'' and ''Film, cinema''. According to Guinness World Records, ma ...

made using games from the ''

Grand Theft Auto ''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...

'' series.Wexner Center for the Arts: Phil Solomon
. Wexarts.org (October 1, 2008). Retrieved on January 6, 2012. His films are often described as haunting and lyrical.

Biography

Originally from New York City, Solomon attended

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...

Cinemad: Interview with Phil Solomon
Cinemad.iblamesociety.com (November 18, 2005). Retrieved on January 6, 2012. and received a Masters of Fine Arts from the

Massachusetts College of Art Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation's oldest art schools, and the only publicly funded independent art sch ...

. One of Solomon's instructors was the experimental filmmaker

Ken Jacobs Ken Jacobs (born May 25, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American experimental filmmaker. His style often involves the use of found footage which he edits and manipulates. He has also directed films using his own footage. Ken Jacobs directed ...

, who started his first class with a screening of

Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both ...

's film '' The Flicker''. Solomon initially disliked the film, but the experience, followed by a screening of his future collaborator

Stan Brakhage James Stanley Brakhage ( ; January 14, 1933 – March 9, 2003) was an American experimental filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film. Over the course of five decades, Brakhage cr ...

's '' Blue Moses'', had a profound impact on his development as a filmmaker. Another formative experience came in the form of a lecture by critic Fred Camper on Brakhage's '' Anticipation of the Night''. Solomon began making films in 1975. He later destroyed some of his early works, many of which were made in imitation of Brakhage. Solomon had been teaching at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

since 1991. Solomon died on April 20, 2019, from complications following surgery at the age of 65.

Career

Solomon was an associate of the influential American experimental filmmaker

, with whom he taught film at the

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

. Solomon and Brakhage collaborated on three films. In a 1992 poll for the British film magazine

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...

, Brakhage picked Solomon's ''Remains to Be Seen'' as one of the ten greatest films of all time. The film had previously been selected as one of the top ten films of 1989 by the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

''. Solomon was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1994. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Thatcher Hoffman Smith Award from the University of Oklahoma. In 2012 Solomon received the Knight Fellowship of the USA (

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

) Fellows program, alongside novelist

Annie Proulx Edna Ann Proulx ( ; born August 22, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She has written most frequently as Annie Proulx but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E.A. Proulx. She won the PEN/Faulkner Award f ...

, sculptor

Alison Saar Alison Saar (born February 5, 1956) is a Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles-based sculptor, mixed-media, and installation artist. Her artwork focuses on the African diaspora and black female identity and is influenced by African, Caribbean, and ...

, jazz musician

Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette (born August 9, 1942) is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. Known for his extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians including Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett, B ...

, dancer and choreographer

Trisha Brown Trisha Brown (November 25, 1936 – March 18, 2017) was an American choreographer and dancer, and one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and the postmodern dance movement. Brown’s dance/movement method, with which she and her danc ...

, and artist

Theaster Gates Theaster Gates (born August 28, 1973) is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works. Gates' work ...

. On April 10, 2010, Solomon's ''American Falls'' opened at the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

in Washington, D.C. The six-projection video/sound installation received great acclaim before closing in July 2010. In conjunction with the Corcoran exhibition, Solomon's career as a filmmaker was explored in "Rhapsodies in Silver," a three-program survey at Washington's

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

. A re-edited, feature-length, single-projection version of ''American Falls'' was featured at the New York Film Festival's "Views from the Avant Garde" on October 1, 2010. The single projection version of the film condenses the original multi-projector format into a triptych, placing three independent (yet associative) images next to one another. In Fall 2012, Solomon screened a three-channel version of ''American Falls'' at the

Museum of the Moving Image The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in a former building of the historic Astoria Studios (now Kaufman Astoria Studios), in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the Am ...

in Astoria, New York, as part of the exhibition "Film After Film." In the May/June 2010

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film ...

poll, The Top 50 Avant-Garde Filmmakers of the Decade, Phil Solomon placed at number 5, tied with his late colleague, Stan Brakhage.

Preservation

Solomon's films have been housed at the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...

since 2005, and they have preserved several of his films, including ''As If We'' ''Twilight Psalm I: The Lateness of the Hour'' and ''What's Out Tonight Is Lost''.

Filmography

References

External links

Phil Solomon Official Website

Professor Phil Solomon Faculty Page, Film Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder

* ttp://conversationsattheedge.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/screening-october-9-6pm/ Phil Solomon program at the Conversations At The Edge programConversations At The Edge at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago *
Michael Sicinski's Cinemascope magazine article on Phil Solomon

* ttp://www.sensesofcinema.com/2007/festival-reports/views-avant-garde-2007-friel/ Patrick Friel's review of Phil Solomons In Memoriam trilogyas printed in The 11th Views from the Avant-Garde, the experimental film program of The

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

NY Times review by Manohla Dargis

American Falls installation and NGA Retrospective review by Genevieve Yue

ARTFORUM review of American Falls at the NYFF

Film Comment Avant-Garde Film poll, Top 50 Filmmakers of the Decade, May/June 2010

303 Magazine: "Phil Solomon: USA Knight Fellow

Westword: "Boulder-based filmmaker Phil Solomon awarded USA grant after finishing American Falls"

The Brooklyn Rail: "Chemical Sundowns: Phil Solomon with Leo Goldsmith

* ttp://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rebecca-laurence/london-film-festival-revi_b_1028453.html Huffington Post, UK: "London Film Festival Review: Phil Solomon's American Falls." {{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Phil 1954 births 2019 deaths Film directors from New York City Binghamton University alumni Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty Jewish American artists American experimental filmmakers 21st-century American Jews Collage filmmakers