BEING THE IMAGE
BARBARA HAMMER, CAROLEE SCHNEEMANN, AGNES VARDA
THE MAC
SATURDAY 2ND NOV | 3PM | £7
SATURDAY 2ND NOV | 3PM | £7
This year has seen the deaths of pioneering and seminal artists, Barbara Hammer, Carolee Schneemann and Agnès Varda. In radically different ways their innovation, vision and artistic excellence have changed the cinematic landscape forever. We are celebrating these three great filmmakers with a modest programme of work that exemplifies their different approaches but could also serve as an introduction to key works for those who might be learning of these filmmakers for the first time. The title ‘Being the Image’ comes from a Schneeman quote and reflects how each one of these women positioned themselves within their films, adding an important subjective dimension to politics, the body, sexuality and lived experience.
Dyketactics (dir. Barbara Hammer, 4 mins, 1974, USA)
This dreamy, idyllic portrayal of lesbian sexuality is one of Hammer’s best-known and loved works. Depicting the female body with boldness and care, the film reads like a poetic playground of sexual exploration and awakening and has been described as a lesbian ‘commercial’. Perhaps tame by modern standards, the film was groundbreaking in its framing of women as a collective and sharing, sensuous group, enhanced by its layered images and electronic score by Lisa Ben.
Fuses (dir, Carolee Schneemann, 22 mins, 1965, USA)
Fuses is an experimental film about fusion, sexuality, and sensuality in a heterosexual relationship. Schneemann filmed herself and her partner Jim Tenney engaging in sex, moving the camera over each others’ bodies and sharing their erotic and sensual relationship. Schneemann’s quick cuts and painted textures onto the celluloid add a layer to the film that draws us in and separates us from this private act. Fuses is a film devised to represent sex from a woman’s point of view as opposed to what was and is seen in mainstream pornography. It is a portrait of love and desire that has divided audiences to the extreme of winning a Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Selection prize and causing audiences to trash cinemas at screenings.
Réponse de Femmes (dir. Agnès Varda, 8 mins, 1975, French with English subtitles)
Varda’s signature framing, colour work, feminism and humour are all on display in this short essay film. In 1975, Varda asked a group of women what it means to be a woman, and this is their reply. Encompassing many different perspectives, the film is engaging and funny, while maintaining a serious message. It’s a stylish snapshot of feminism in the 1970s, evoking consideration of how a similar film would be made today.
Dyketactics (dir. Barbara Hammer, 4 mins, 1974, USA)
This dreamy, idyllic portrayal of lesbian sexuality is one of Hammer’s best-known and loved works. Depicting the female body with boldness and care, the film reads like a poetic playground of sexual exploration and awakening and has been described as a lesbian ‘commercial’. Perhaps tame by modern standards, the film was groundbreaking in its framing of women as a collective and sharing, sensuous group, enhanced by its layered images and electronic score by Lisa Ben.
Fuses (dir, Carolee Schneemann, 22 mins, 1965, USA)
Fuses is an experimental film about fusion, sexuality, and sensuality in a heterosexual relationship. Schneemann filmed herself and her partner Jim Tenney engaging in sex, moving the camera over each others’ bodies and sharing their erotic and sensual relationship. Schneemann’s quick cuts and painted textures onto the celluloid add a layer to the film that draws us in and separates us from this private act. Fuses is a film devised to represent sex from a woman’s point of view as opposed to what was and is seen in mainstream pornography. It is a portrait of love and desire that has divided audiences to the extreme of winning a Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Selection prize and causing audiences to trash cinemas at screenings.
Réponse de Femmes (dir. Agnès Varda, 8 mins, 1975, French with English subtitles)
Varda’s signature framing, colour work, feminism and humour are all on display in this short essay film. In 1975, Varda asked a group of women what it means to be a woman, and this is their reply. Encompassing many different perspectives, the film is engaging and funny, while maintaining a serious message. It’s a stylish snapshot of feminism in the 1970s, evoking consideration of how a similar film would be made today.
