Serial Metaphysics is a 1972
collage film
Collage film is a style of film created by juxtaposing Found footage (appropriation), found footage from disparate sources (archival footage, excerpts from other films, newsreels, home movies, etc.). The term has also been applied to the physical ...
by
experimental filmmaker
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 ...
Wheeler Winston Dixon
Wheeler Winston Dixon (born March 12, 1950) is an American filmmaker and scholar. He is an expert on film history, Film theory, theory and Film criticism, criticism.Bill Goodykoontz, December 23, 2012, USA TodayDefining Tarantino Accessed Aug. 25, ...
.
Summary
An examination of the American lifestyle recut entirely from existing television commercials creating "a vision of the world as viewed through the eyes of the corporate sponsor with a target audience in mind".
Ed Halter from ''
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 newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' stated that Wheeler's "loopy
Americana
Americana may refer to:
*Americana music, a genre or style of American music
* Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States
Film, radio and television
* ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film
* ''Americana'' (20 ...
remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
grooves to an increasingly trippy reverb."
Production
The film was edited down all in one night on
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...
from 72 hours of TV commercials.
Reception and legacy
The
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
showed the film (twice in 1973 and 1974) where then-curator
Bruce Rubin commented that Wheeler "is a masterful film editor. His sensitivity to the movement within the frame and of the camera itself allows for fluidity in his editing that is exuberant and refreshing. It is as though his films tap into our collective unconscious by exploring the surface realities that permeate our lives."
References
{{reflist
See also
*
Criticism of capitalism
Criticism of capitalism typically ranges from expressing disagreement with particular aspects or outcomes of capitalism to rejecting the principles of the capitalist system in its entirety. Criticism comes from various political and philosophic ...
*''
A Corny Concerto'' - audio from the 1943 animated short can be heard in the film
*
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
's ''
The Planets
''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...
'' and
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...
's ''
Piano Concerto No. 2'' can also be heard in the film
External links
''Serial Metaphysics'' at IMDbThe entire film on the filmmaker's official Vimeo channel
1972 films
1972 short films
Collage television
1970s avant-garde and experimental films
American collage films