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A co-presentation with the 41st Festival du nouveau cinéma and the Department of English, McGill University
CAROLEE SCHNEEMANN IN ATTENDANCE!
Thursday, Oct. 18 | 7:00PM | CinemaSpace
Fuses (1964-1967): courtesy of Carolee Schneemann
On the occasion of the 41st Festival du Nouveau Cinéma's Montreal premiere of BREAKING THE FRAME, Marielle Nitoslawska's documentary about groundbreaking feminist artist Carolee Schneemann, this program of experimental films attempts to situate FUSES, Schneemann's taboo-shattering 1967 film about lovemaking, alongside other experimental films of the era devoted to the exploration of the sexual body. Curated by Prof. Ara Osterweil, McGill University.
Tickets: Regular $12.00 | Students & Seniors $8.00
Also:
In conjunction with Erotic Experimental Cinema of the Sixties, the 41st Festival du nouveau cinéma, McGill University, the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal and CinemaSpace co-present:
CAROLEE SCHNEEMANN, THEN AND NOW (symposium)
Friday, Oct. 19 | 3:00PM | Auditorium Maxwell-Cummings, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal | FREE ADMISSION
Fuses (1964-1967): courtesy of Carolee Schneemann
A pioneer of performance, body art and avant-garde cinema, feminist artist Carolee Schneemann has been breaking the frames of the art world for five decades. This symposium explores the representation of gender, sexuality and the body in her œuvre, with:
Carolee Schneemann
Marielle Nitoslawska (Concordia University)
Amelia Jones (McGill University)
Ara Osterweil, (McGill University)
Stéphane Aquin (Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal)
Kenneth White (Stanford University)
Moderator: Ara Osterweil (McGill University)
The Department of English
The Department of Art History & Communication Studies
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EROTIC EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA OF THE SIXTIES
CAROLEE SCHNEEMANN IN ATTENDANCE
Schmeerguntz (1966): courtesy of Gunvor Nelson & Dorothy Wiley
Screening Format: 16mm
Total Running Time: 80 minutes
CAT'S CRADLE
Stan Brakhage
USA | 1959 | 16mm | colour | silent | 6 min.
This film is a domestic study of two couples – Stan and Jane Brakhage and Carolee Schneemann and James Tenney – working out the labors of love amidst the fluttering textures, lights, and colors of a rural home. Described by Brakhage as "sexual witchcraft," CAT'S CRADLE is one of the films that inspired Schneemann to make FUSES in order to wrest the representation of the female body from its male artists.
FUSES
Carolee Schneemann
USA | 1964-1967 | 16mm | colour | silent | 30 min.
One of the classics of the corporeal avant-garde, FUSES is a tender, erotic portrait of lovemaking between Schneemann and her partner, musician James Tenney, as witnessed by their cat Kitch. Self shot by Schneemann, and then painted, baked, dyed, collaged, and edited over three years, the film is a sensual palimpsest of impressions, colors, and rhythms that coalesce around the blinding core of sexuality.
CHRISTMAS ON EARTH
Barbara Rubin
USA | 1964 | 16mm double projection | b&w and colour | sound | 29 min.
Made by seventeen-year-old Barbara Rubin, this psychedelic extravaganza projects two reels simultaneously – one inside the other – in order to mimic the sexual inter-penetration of the bodies on screen. Watched amidst an evolving palette of color flashes and to the tune of a live soundtrack, CHRISTMAS ON EARTH immerses the viewer in the orgiastic pleasure of its shape-shifting performers.
SCHMEERGUNTZ
Gunvor Nelson & Dorothy Wiley
USA | 1966 | 16 mm | b&w | sound | 15 min.
Described by critic Ernest Callenbach as "One long raucous belch in the face of the American home," this witty collage contrasts media portraits of acceptable femininity from the 1940s to the 1960s with the everyday rituals of pregnant co-director Dorothy Wiley. Schneemann programmed SCHMEERGUNTZ alongside FUSES at the 1977 Telluride Film Festival, in which she also performed her groundbreaking performance INTERIOR SCROLL.
Christmas on Earth (1964) by Barbara Rubin
