Paul Jeffrey Sharits (February 7, 1943,

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

—July 8, 1993,

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

) was a visual artist, best known for his work in experimental, or avant-garde filmmaking, particularly what became known as the

structural film Structural film was an avant-garde experimental film movement prominent in the United States in the 1960s. A related movement developed in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. Overview The term was coined by P. Adams Sitney who noted that film artist ...

movement, along with other artists such as

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 ...

, Hollis Frampton, and

Michael Snow Michael James Aleck Snow (December 10, 1928 – January 5, 2023) was a Canadian artist who worked in a range of media including film, installation, sculpture, photography, and music. His best-known films are ''Wavelength'' (1967) and '' La Rég ...

. Paul Sharits' film work primarily focused on installations incorporating endless film loops, multiple projectors, and experimental soundtracks (prominently used in his 1975 film ''Shutter Interface'').

Life

Sharits was born in

, and earned a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

in painting at the University of Denver's School of Art where he was a protégé of

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 ...

. He also attended

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, where he received an

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

in Visual Design. In July 1960, he married Frances Trujillo Niekerk, and in 1965 they had a son, Christopher. They divorced in 1970. He was subsequently a teacher at the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, it is regarded as one of ...

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

, and

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 a ...

(where he was hired by Gerald O'Grady along with Tony Conrad and Hollis Frampton). Son Christopher Sharits suggests on the memorial website that Sharits suffered from

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

Works

Sharits' works of the 1960s, when he received the widest acclaim, included influential "flicker" films such as ''Ray Gun Virus'', ''Piece Mandala/End War'', ''N:O:T:H:I:N:G'', '' T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G'' (featuring poet David Franks), and ''S:TREAM:S:S:ECTION:S:ECTION:S:S:ECTIONED''. His works of the 70s were among the forerunners of contemporary

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific art, site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior intervent ...

. Themes of violence permeate his work. His work has been preserved by

Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and film distribution, exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent film, independent, experimental film, ex ...

and is distributed by

The Film-Makers' Cooperative The Film-Makers' Cooperative (a.k.a. The New American Cinema Group, Inc.) is an artist-run, non-profit organization founded in 1961 in New York City by Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Shirley Clarke, Stan Brakhage, Jack Smith (film director), Jack Smit ...

and

Canyon Cinema Canyon Cinema is an American nonprofit organization for distributing independent, avant-garde, and artist-made films. After starting in the 1960s as an exhibition program, it grew to include a nationwide newsletter and a distribution cooperative. ...

Death

In the late 1980s, Sharits was shot in his stomach at a local bar. He claimed the incident to have been an accident, for he was mistaken for someone else. He later experienced bouts of depression trying to recuperate from his wound, as well as having broken up with a designer named Laurie. Sharits later died silently in 1993, in Buffalo, New York, noted to be the same death place as his film colleagues, James Blue and Hollis Frampton, in a eulogy by former director of

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film, is a photography museum in Rochester, New York. Opened to the public in 1949, is the oldest museum dedicated to photography ...

, Anthony Bannon.

Filmography

*''Wintercourse'' (1962) *''Ray Gun Virus'' (1966) *''Unrolling Event (Fluxfilm)'' (1966) *''Wristtrick (Fluxfilm)'' (1966) *''Dots 1 & 2 (Fluxfilm)'' (1966) *''Sears Catalogue (Fluxfilm)'' (1966) *''Word Movie (Fluxfilm 29)'' (1966) *''Piece Mandala/End War'' (1966) *''Razor Blades'' (1965–68) *''N:O:T:H:I:N:G'' (1968) *'' T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G'' (1968) *''S:TREAM:S:S:ECTION:S:ECTION:S:S:ECTIONED'' (1968–71) *''Inferential Current'' (1971) *''Sound Strip/Film Strip'' (1971) *''Axiomatic Granularity '' (1972–73) *''Damaged Film Loop/The Forgetting of Impressions and Intentions'' (1973–74) *''Synchronousoundtracks'' (1973–74) *''Color Sound Frames'' (1974) *''Vertical Contiguity'' (1974) *''Analytical Studies III: Color Frame Passages'' (1973–74) *''Apparent Motion'' (1975) *''Shutter Interface'' (1975) *''Analytical Studies I: The Film Frame'' (1971–76) *''Analytical Studies II: Un-Frame-Lines'' (1971–76) *''Analytical Studies IV: Blank Color Frames'' (1975–76) *''Dream Displacement'' (1976) *''Epileptic Seizure Comparison'' (1976) *''Tails'' (1976) *''Declarative Mode'' (1976–77) *''Episodic Generation'' (1978) *''3rd Degree'' (1982) *''Bad Burns'' (1982) *''Brancusi's Sculpture Ensemble at Tirgu Jiu'' (1977–84) *''Figment I: Fluxglam Voyage in Search of the Real Maciunas'' (1977–86) *''Rapture'' (1987)

Incomplete/uncatalogued works

*''Five Mexican Pyramids'' (c. 1981) *''Poison'' (c. 1981)

Notes

References

* *

External links

*
Paul Sharits Memorial GalleryPaul Sharits
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Paul Sharits obituary
of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharits, Paul 1943 births 1993 deaths American experimental filmmakers Maryland Institute College of Art faculty People with bipolar disorder Artists from Denver Indiana University Bloomington alumni University of Denver alumni Antioch College faculty University at Buffalo faculty