Newsletter 9, December 2005
Newsletter #9 ∙ December 2005
In this issue:
1. The Writings of Bill Moritz Online
2 Half of The History of Experimental Animation
3 Classic Abstract Films Released on DVD
4 Book and Documentary on Live Video Performance
Season’s Greetings!
So what’s new in the world of Visual Music since last May?
Plenty.
For example,
…The William Moritz Archive of articles is up on our completely redesigned iota website. Our crew of interns (from Calarts, USC, and UCLA film schools) worked all summer and fall on the site. We’d love to get your feedback in our new online forum.
…New Books and DVDs have been released, covering the genre from the historic to the most contemporary.
For more on these stories, read on…
Larry Cuba
Director
The iotaCenter
The Writings of Bill Moritz Online
We’re publishing on the iota website, as a tribute to the late William Moritz, and as a resource for the entire iota community, an archive of Dr. Mortiz’ writings on the subject of abstract animation and visual music.
Between 1969 and 2002, Bill wrote a staggering number of articles for magazines, journals, festival programs, exhibition catalogs and so on and so forth. Entrance into this massive archive begins with his bibliography…
To the Bill Moritz Archive
Half of The History of Experimental Animation
One of Bill’s larger writing projects consisted of a history of experimental animation, told in fifty short episodes, for a website sponsored by Absolut Vodka, directed by Christine Panushka and
therefore dubbed, “Absolut Panushka”.
Approximately half of these articles pertain to the history of abstraction and visual music. While the original site is no longer online, we’ve republished the “abstract” half of this history and even recreated the original navigation bar: a timeline in the shape of a beautiful spiral.
“Absolut Panushka” on iota
Classic Abstract Films Released on DVD
At left is an image from Francis Brugiere’s classic film from 1930, Light Rhythms, one of the 155 rare avant-garde films compiled into the 7-DVD set: Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941.
Produced by Bruce Posner and David Shepard, the set includes several rare, abstract works (appearing on DVD for the first time) by Mary Ellen Bute, Douglas Crockwell, Dwinell Grant and
Norman McLaren.
Details at iota’s online store…
Book and Documentary on Live Video Performance
The VJ Book: Inspirations and Practical Advice for Live Visuals Performance by Paul Spinard is a book and DVD package that blends practical information (on hardware and software) with history (from the 1920s “color concerts” to the ’60s psychedelic light shows to the contemporary scene’s huge projection screens).
Contains interviews with:
Benton-C Bainbridge, Craig Baldwin, Ivan Dryer, George Stadnik, Melissa Ulto and others. The DVD includes: VJ software, mixable video clips, live performance footage, and excerpts from “Video Out.”
Video Out is an 83-minute documentary on “The Story of VJ’ing and Live Video Art”.
From the psychedelic light shows of the 1960s to the heady, early days of experimental video art; From New York’s nascent Soho Scene to today’s techno underground, Video Out tells the story of live video art over the last thirty years and includes taped interviews with 50 of this history’s key figures. For more details and a complete list of participants, check the Video Out page on iota’s online store.