Ocularis at Galapagos Art Space
70 North 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Contact Thomas Beard for further information ::
thomas@ocularis.net 646.420.0359
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Argument
Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall, 1978, 84 minutes
Monday, April 24 at 8 PM
"The twin principles of modernism and marketing: seeing fresh promise in
familiar things."
Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall's legendary and provocative essay film
Argument, first screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in
1978, has been almost unseen for the last twenty years. LUX has now made a
new High Definition restoration of the film, and its trenchant analysis of
media ideology seems more pertinent than ever.
Three male voices dissect one edition of The New York Times through a series
of locked-off shots, revealing the prejudice and latent content of news and
advertisements, reading images as texts and presenting text as an image.
Fashion photographs are used as a starting point for a political
investigation of news, advertising, and images of masculinity - while at the
same time, the filmmakers reflect on their own position and the possibility
of radical film practice. Influenced by both the America and European
avant-gardes, notably Godard and Hollis Frampton, Argument is stylistically
beautiful and relentless in its enquiry.
THE ARGUMENT BOOK
“Typesetting is political: this has rarely been registered as acutely as in
Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall’s Argument project. The decision here to
reproduce the Argument book as a complete facsimile of the 1979 edition is
partly a recognition that fonts are as historical as fashions (another of
Argument’s preoccupations). Fashion and film, as McCall and Tyndall suggest,
both make images to be read – both are hieroglyphic. But written language is
itself also an image. This makes the ethos, and pathos, of Argument’s fonts
one of many underexplored connections between McCall and Tyndall’s project
and the conceptual art of contemporaneous New York.”
– from the introduction to the new edition by Mike Sperlinger & Ian White
Alongside the restored version of the film, LUX is pleased to be
republishing the book by Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall which was
originally published alongside it, copies of which will be available for
purchase at Ocularis.
As well as being a sustained investigation into the semiotics of newspapers
and magazines, the Argument project turned the spotlight on the issues
around making and screening "political" films. These ideas, which are
present in the film, are developed further in the book, which includes three
important essays by McCall and Tyndall: "Sixteen Working Statements,"
"Artist as Businessman" and "Against the Numbers Theory." The book also
features images from the film, as well as responses and reviews of the
original screenings by Jane Weinstock, David Himelfarb and Claire
Pajaczkowska.
Ticket Price - $6
Hi-res stills and preview materials available upon request.
About Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall
Anthony McCall began making performances and films in the UK in 1971, moving
to New York in 1973. He has exhibited worldwide in museums and galleries,
and is internationally famous for his solid light films such as Line
Describing a Cone (also distributed by LUX).
Andrew Tyndall is now a well-know US media commentator, whose website The
Tyndall Report (http://www.tyndallreport.com) provides in-depth monitoring
of television news.
About LUX
LUX is a not-for-profit limited company and charity which exists to promote
and support artists' moving image work. It also preserves and makes
available the film and video collections of its predecessor organisations
the Lux Centre, London Filmmakers Co-op and London Electronic Arts/London
Video Access. LUX receives financial support from Arts Council England.
About Ocularis
Ocularis is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that provides a forum for
the exhibition of independent, experimental and documentary film/video and
new media, as well as international and repertory cinema. Established in
1996 as a rooftop film series catering to local audiences in North Brooklyn,
it has since evolved into a weekly cinema, a producer of collaborative
film/video work and a summer open-air screening series.
|
Contact Thomas Beard for further information :: thomas@ocularis.net 646.420.0359
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Argument Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall, 1978, 84 minutes Monday, April 24 at 8 PM
"The twin principles of modernism and marketing: seeing fresh promise in familiar things."
Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall's legendary and provocative essay film Argument, first screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 1978, has been almost unseen for the last twenty years. LUX has now made a new High Definition restoration of the film, and its trenchant analysis of media ideology seems more pertinent than ever.
Three male voices dissect one edition of The New York Times through a series of locked-off shots, revealing the prejudice and latent content of news and advertisements, reading images as texts and presenting text as an image. Fashion photographs are used as a starting point for a political investigation of news, advertising, and images of masculinity - while at the same time, the filmmakers reflect on their own position and the possibility of radical film practice. Influenced by both the America and European avant-gardes, notably Godard and Hollis Frampton, Argument is stylistically beautiful and relentless in its enquiry.
THE ARGUMENT BOOK
“Typesetting is political: this has rarely been registered as acutely as in Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall’s Argument project. The decision here to reproduce the Argument book as a complete facsimile of the 1979 edition is partly a recognition that fonts are as historical as fashions (another of Argument’s preoccupations). Fashion and film, as McCall and Tyndall suggest, both make images to be read – both are hieroglyphic. But written language is itself also an image. This makes the ethos, and pathos, of Argument’s fonts one of many underexplored connections between McCall and Tyndall’s project and the conceptual art of contemporaneous New York.” – from the introduction to the new edition by Mike Sperlinger & Ian White
Alongside the restored version of the film, LUX is pleased to be republishing the book by Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall which was originally published alongside it, copies of which will be available for purchase at Ocularis.
As well as being a sustained investigation into the semiotics of newspapers and magazines, the Argument project turned the spotlight on the issues around making and screening "political" films. These ideas, which are present in the film, are developed further in the book, which includes three important essays by McCall and Tyndall: "Sixteen Working Statements," "Artist as Businessman" and "Against the Numbers Theory." The book also features images from the film, as well as responses and reviews of the original screenings by Jane Weinstock, David Himelfarb and Claire Pajaczkowska.
Ticket Price - $6
Hi-res stills and preview materials available upon request.
About Anthony McCall and Andrew Tyndall
Anthony McCall began making performances and films in the UK in 1971, moving to New York in 1973. He has exhibited worldwide in museums and galleries, and is internationally famous for his solid light films such as Line Describing a Cone (also distributed by LUX).
Andrew Tyndall is now a well-know US media commentator, whose website The Tyndall Report (http://www.tyndallreport.com) provides in-depth monitoring of television news.
About LUX
LUX is a not-for-profit limited company and charity which exists to promote and support artists' moving image work. It also preserves and makes available the film and video collections of its predecessor organisations the Lux Centre, London Filmmakers Co-op and London Electronic Arts/London Video Access. LUX receives financial support from Arts Council England.
About Ocularis
Ocularis is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization that provides a forum for the exhibition of independent, experimental and documentary film/video and new media, as well as international and repertory cinema. Established in 1996 as a rooftop film series catering to local audiences in North Brooklyn, it has since evolved into a weekly cinema, a producer of collaborative film/video work and a summer open-air screening series.
- jim 4-16-2006 9:26 pm