Re: FRAMEWORKS Digest - 13 May 2008 - Special issue (#2008-218)

From: David Tetzlaff (email suppressed)
Date: Tue May 13 2008 - 13:47:33 PDT


>> My favorite claim was the contention that experimental film making
>> has an ideology that embraces openness in technique.
>>
>> I'm still laughing about that one-- anyone with a knowledge of the
>> history of this art would know that rigid ideology and tight
>> strictures has been a hallmark of many film makers over the years.

If I was to reply with similar condescending snark, I would say that
anyone with a knowledge of English grammar and basic logic would know
an assertion that something is true of a collective group (indicated
by the plural form 'film making') does not mean it is necessarily true
of all individuals (indicated by the singular form 'film makers')
within that group. Yes, any number of film makers have advanced narrow
agendas. But then part of being an artist is that one's public
declarations in manifestoes and such are not necessarily meant to be
taken literally, but are themselves artistic provocations. As a
collectivity, it seems to me the experimental film community has
usually embraced a variety of individual rigid ideologies and tight
strictures simultaneously.

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