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Journal of Short Film, A Democratizing Voice

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A short stack of 7 films, The Journal of Short Film Volume 15 includes animated love letters, intimate earth worm conversations, and stunning historic vistas.


The Journal of Short Film is a locally published quarterly DVD collection of short video/film from around the world. In its newest volume, #15, the Journal continues its voice of democratized film distribution, while offering a selection of films along the perimeter of both experimental and documentary practices. I’m honored to be supporting the Journal of Short Film’s publisher Karl Mechem, and more recently as a guest editor on this volume, alongside Jennifer Lange and Paul Hill of the Wexner Center.

The volume begins with the quiet visually poetic Chiquitita and the Soft Escape, by Michael Robinson. Repetitive texture and motion reveal details at home, memories in close-up, cues that disintegrate with each repeated telling. The filmmaker offers an apt description of the “gentle breakdown in the face of the romantic.”

Chiquitita and the Soft Escape, by Michael Robinson

Chiquitita and the Soft Escape, by Michael Robinson

Hyacinthe, by Lydia Moyer (goodfornow)
Whats remains of Jonestown, Gayana? Moyer travels to the remains of the Jonestown “Peoples Temple Agricultural Project,” to discover a landscape of legendary violence, a historic tragedy swallowed by the natural world. This short documentary makes a case for time as a factor in both healing and subverting history.

Melika Bass stirs up something primordial with the 5 minute Bulb in the Head. A metaphysical day in the park. Humans and worms explore the earth, and dirt produces magic. Described in liner notes as  “An earthen fairy tale. A feast for the living.”

A Pastry Shop And A Rainy Street, Bruce McKaig

A Pastry Shop And A Rainy Street, Bruce McKaig

Bruce McKaig‘s experiments in time lapse video on A Pastry Shop And A Rainy Street, make for an interesting overlap between interior and exterior space. Check more of Bruces time lapse photography and video art (here).

Within the playful space of a minute and a half, Digital Underpants by Matt Meindl exposes a playfully animated romp through old love letters and notebook sketches. A secret message, as if from the desk of a small child, layered with meaning and whispered innuendo.

How much difference can one man make? Recycle by Vasco Lucas Nunes and Odi Timoner describes a kind of homesteading on a small tract of unused land.  Recycle is a Sundance short documentary about a homeless poet who recycles for his own reasons, and gardens in a wedge of existence between two streets in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. (clip)

Self sustainability becomes a prayer to the viewers as we celebrate the small gifts. Applaud the water hose, a ravaged plant rescued from the dumpster, and the curbside gardener.

One of my favorite short films in the collection is 200,000 Phantoms. A 20th century history exploded through hundreds of photographs of the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima, spanning a century or more. A thought provoking statement in layered images, Phantoms leaves me pondering over a new language found in our ever increasing collective public documentation. The filmmaker, Jean-Gabriel Périot, brings us something fresh  in the ubiquitous form of a slide show. Phantoms is a truly transcendent piece that remains with me long after a single viewing.

Purchase your own copy of this DVD collection online at www.thejsf.org, or on Amazon.com

UP NEXT… Interview with the Journal’s publisher, Karl Mechem!

Links

thejsf.org
Amazon
Michael Robinson

Matt Meindl

Lydia Moyer

Jean-Gabriel Périot

Bruce McKaig

Filed under: Art & Film, Columbus, film, JSF, , , , , , , ,

JSF / Wexner Selections Out Now!

SELECTIONS FROM THE ART & TECH RESIDENCY PROGRAM
AT THE WEXNER CENTER FOR THE ARTS

ABOUT ART & TECH:
Since 1989, the Art & Technology residency program, part of the Media Arts department at the Wexner Center for the Arts, has provided in-kind, post-production support for over 250 artists working in film and video. This volume of The Journal of Short Film represents some of the highlights from the past 10 years. Art & Tech has been a sanctuary for artists who are looking for support (sometimes technical, sometime creative, and often both) and an environment that encourages experimentation and welcomes the technical challenges that so often result.

These works represent only a handful of the many that have been supported during our tenure. It has been a pleasure to work with such an amazing group of artists and we look forward to the next 10 years!

Jennifer Lange
Associate Curator, Media Arts

Paul Hill
Editor and Studio Manager


SELECTIONS Playlist:

1. Jem Cohen – Blessed are the Dreams of Men (2005, 9:17) minutes
2. Andrés Denegri – Uyuni (2005, 8:08)
3. Natasha Spencer – The House She Flew In On: The Video (2002, 2:48)
4. Joe Sola and Will Eno – Watercolor (2006, 4:13)
5. William E. Jones – Mansfield 1962 (2005, 9:29)
6. Vanalyne Green – Saddle Sores (1998, 19:45)
7. Kelly Reichardt – Travis (2004, 11:46)
8. Deborah Stratman – The Magician’s House (2007, 5:45)
9. Leah Gilliam – Apeshit (1999, 6:23)
10. Sam Green – lot 63 grave c (2005, 9:47)
11. K8 Hardy and Wynne Greenwood – New Report, Artist Unknown (2006, 16:26)

Visit www.thejsf.org to order yours today.

Filed under: Columbus, film, JSF, ,

DKing

Daniel King lives in Columbus, Ohio.

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OH [intro]: is a series of interviews with creative people living and working in my hometown.

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Check out the September issue of OUTLOOK COLUMBUS for more about local artists...