On the Camera Arts and Consecutive Matters: The Writings of Hollis Frampton (Writing Art) Hardcover – February 13, 2009

by Hollis Frampton

As Hollis Frampton's photographs and celebrated experimental films were testing the boundaries of "the camera arts" in the 1960s and 1970s, his provocative and highly literate writings were attempting to establish an intellectually resonant form of discourse for these critically underexplored fields. It was a time when artists working in diverse disciplines were beginning to pick up cameras and produce films and videotapes, well before these practices were understood or embraced by institutions of contemporary art. This collection of Frampton's writings presents his critical essays (many written for "Artforum" and "October") along with additional material, including lectures, correspondence, interviews, and production notes and scripts. It replaces -- and supersedes -- the long-unavailable "Circles of Confusion," published in 1983. Frampton ranged widely over the visual arts in his writing, and the texts in this collection display his unique approaches to photography, film, and video, as well as the plastic and literary arts. They include critically acclaimed essays on Edward Weston and Eadweard Muybridge as well as appraisals of contemporary photographers; the influential essay, "For a Metahistory of Film," along with scripts, textual material, and scores for his films; writings on video that constitute a prehistory of the digital arts; a dialogue with Carl Andre (his friend and former Phillips Andover classmate) from the early 1960s; and two inventive, almost unclassifiable pieces that are reminiscent of Borges, Joyce, and Beckett.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Art, Photography, Essays, Theory

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Hollis Frampton was a filmmaker, artist, and writer. Among his best-known works are (nostalgia), Zorns Lemma, and the unfinished epic film cycle Magellan. He was one of the founders of the Digital Arts Laboratory in the Center for Media Study at SUNY Buffalo.

Reviews

[Meredith Reese]

Just purchased this from an amazon.com sale. Read a couple essays last year in grad school and can't wait to sink my teeth into to the world of Frampton.