Welcome to CAVE TALK #03, “ We Saw / We’ll See “ newsletter, now in PDF, for all those fans who contacted me in regard to resolution problems. Sorry about that.
The Cave (wo)men are all still humming from last weeks film showing of , “Le Mepris” from Jean Luc Godard. What a beautiful, passionate and technically brilliant film. From the opening scene until the unexpected but inevitable ending everyone was riveted in their hard chairs. As I mentioned last week it was never really that clear to me why Godard was so highly esteemed by film buffs like Quentin Tarantino but after watching “Le Mepris” 3 times last week I now know why. The many different levels in which the actors, scenario, and directing operated within the structure of the film was really unbelievable. The subtle, seamless transitions from character to personality, from film to real life, from marital tragedy to aesthetic beauty left me breathless. It certainly earns a, “How Did They Do That?” rating the highest the CAVE critics can bestow and has been officially placed in my personal “Top 5” of all time list.
LE MEPRIS (1963)
Before the filming there were again some challenging discussions this time about the relation between images and text in works that some cavers bought to class. The different ways that integrating text with images and the use of text (titles) to create new contexts for looking at a work were investigated. When does a text stop becoming an illustration for an image but functions more as a new “color” for what you see. “Drawing” words so that they function as images and ‘naming” images so that they function as contextual shifters. Maybe I’m getting a little carried away here but I can help but see this discussion in relation to how Godard played with language, images and film in his work.
RAYMOND PETTIBON
Hopefully you will receive and read Cave Talk #03 on time to find time to see the Luwteloos presentation, “Dogs On Art” that’s happening while I write. It’s open today and Sunday until 18:00 so be sure to drop by if you haven’t done so already.
ANDY WARHOL
If your looking for something else to do this weekend there’s a unique chance to experience Dziga Vertov’s “Man With A Movie Camera” in a special screening on Sunday at the EYE Museum. It’s not a coincidence that the Cave season begins every year with a viewing of this ultimate beginning of all modern cinema. So now’s your chance to see it on a big screen accompanied by live music. Again Godard comes into the picture since he even named his production the “Dziga Vertov Cinema Collective” just as Tarantino named his production company, “A Band Apart” after Godard’s 1967 film and the caveman Zezvra ( Lucy’s lover) is an indirect allusion to Dziga Vertov. The circle is round so join it and check out the film tomorrow after of course paying a visit to ‘Dogs On Art’.
The next CAVE will happen on Wednesday 15 March. Plan on coming, bring some work, expose yourself. To get you in the mood checkout the link for thes cave dwellers on the ‘Cave Video of the Week’.
White Denim - Shake Shake Shake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eYwkkujr5Y&feature=em-share_video_user
WE’LL SEE