Four Short Films 1972-1973
John Baldessari
1972-1973, 6:15 min, color, silent, Super 8mm film on video
Four Short Films 1972-1973
John Baldessari
1972-1973, 6:15 min, color, silent, Super 8mm film on video
With steady hands, the artist stages an inversely proportionate dynamic between two instruments. As the sands of the egg timer run out (well exceeding the anticipated three minutes), the thermometer registers a transition from freezing point to boiling point.
Flat discs (possibly Cracker Jack prizes) are tilted in the artist's hands, each revealing a mirrored surface and the face of a beautiful woman. In this absurd demonstration of "cinema," Baldessari reduces movie magic to its barest elements: actresses and lighting.
Baldessari performs an amateur magician's rendition of the holy miracle.
The artist composes a picture through the action of thrusting his fingers into jars of pigment powder.
Description
Contemporaneous to his best-known video works, these Super-8mm films represent Baldessari's conceptual engagement with motion picture film, pointing to the technical strengths and weaknesses of the celluloid medium relative to video, such as the superior reproduction of color, on one hand, and the difficulty of adding synchronized sound on the other. Conceived on an intimate scale (only the artist's hands are visible as he manipulates a range of objects), Baldessari's Super-8 films replace text and speech with a cunning visual language, in which he wordlessly describes physical changes in his environment: a bright light flashes on a mirrored surface, red liquid rises in a thermometer, and powdered pigment makes an indelible mess. Here Baldessari employs a method of communication that is based on spectacle rather than performance.
Exhibition & Distribution Conditions
This is a video transfer of a work initially shot on film. This is best shown as a projection, to reflect the original medium.
Projection Installation Checklist & Guidelines
