John Smith - Film and Video
www.tank.tv / 1st March - 15th April 2007
This month tank.tv presents a rare opportunity to view a retrospective of the work of one of the most important British film and video artists of his generation, John Smith.
tank.tv have a long-standing relationship with the artist and we are very pleased to present work that has so much influenced young and emerging artists.
John Smith started making films in 1972 and became associated with the London Film Makers Co-op. At the height of theory led, materialist filmmaking, Smith's work was marked by its humour and accessibility. Playful, idiosyncratic and staunchly rigorous these films (made over a 32 year period) are an absorbing exploration of questions central to both cinema and experience
Over the past three decades John Smith has developed a body of work that deftly subverts the perceived boundaries between truth and fiction, representation and abstraction. Drawing on the raw material of everyday life, Smith's meticulously crafted films rework and transform reality, playfully exploring and exposing the power of cinematic language.
The show includes one of Smith's key works, Girl Chewing Gum (1976). The film examines many of the themes present throughout Smith's work, despite being made very early in his career, during his masters degree. A voice-over accompanies footage of a busy London street corner, appearing to direct the movement of people, birds and even a clock. This witty meditation on perception, knowledge and language questions the notion of documentary truth and examines the power of text over image.
"The films of John Smith conduct a serious investigation into the combination of sound and image, but with a sense of humour that reaches out beyond the traditional avant-garde audience. His films move between narrative and absurdity, constantly undermining the traditional relationship between the visual and the aural. By blurring the perceived boundaries of experimental film, fiction and documentary, Smith never delivers what he has led the spectator to expect." Mark Webber (Leeds International Film Festival catalogue 2000)
John Smith lives and works in London.
The exhibition will include the full length showing of: 'Om' (1986), 'Gargantuan' (1992), 'The Waste Land' (1999) and 'Pyramids/Skunk' (2006/7).
The exhibition will also include excerpts from: 'Associations' (1975), 'The Girl Chewing Gum' (1976), 'Shepherd's Delight' (1984), 'The Black Tower' (1987), 'Slow Glass' (1992), 'Blight' (1996), 'Regression' (1999), 'Lost Sound' (2001) and 'Worst Case Scenario' (2003).
John Smith is online at www.tank.tv from 1st March to 15th April 2007.
For distribution contact [email protected]
For additional information see http://www.luxonline.org.uk/artists/john\_smith/index.html
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For press enquiries please contact: Alice O'Reilly [email protected]
tank.tv / Tank Magazine 49-50 Great Marlborough Street London - W1F 7JR - UK - Tel: +44 (0) 207 434 0110
John Smith on www.tank.tv 1.03.07 - 15.4.07
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Type: discussion
Comments
John Smith - Film and Video
www.tank.tv / 1st March - 15th April 2007
This month tank.tv presents a rare opportunity to view a retrospective of the work of one of the most important British film and video artists of his generation, John Smith.
tank.tv have a long-standing relationship with the artist and we are very pleased to present work that has so much influenced young and emerging artists.
John Smith started making films in 1972 and became associated with the London Film Makers Co-op. At the height of theory led, materialist filmmaking, Smith's work was marked by its humour and accessibility. Playful, idiosyncratic and staunchly rigorous these films (made over a 32 year period) are an absorbing exploration of questions central to both cinema and experience
Over the past three decades John Smith has developed a body of work that deftly subverts the perceived boundaries between truth and fiction, representation and abstraction. Drawing on the raw material of everyday life, Smith's meticulously crafted films rework and transform reality, playfully exploring and exposing the power of cinematic language.
The show includes one of Smith's key works, Girl Chewing Gum (1976). The film examines many of the themes present throughout Smith's work, despite being made very early in his career, during his masters degree. A voice-over accompanies footage of a busy London street corner, appearing to direct the movement of people, birds and even a clock. This witty meditation on perception, knowledge and language questions the notion of documentary truth and examines the power of text over image.
"The films of John Smith conduct a serious investigation into the combination of sound and image, but with a sense of humour that reaches out beyond the traditional avant-garde audience. His films move between narrative and absurdity, constantly undermining the traditional relationship between the visual and the aural. By blurring the perceived boundaries of experimental film, fiction and documentary, Smith never delivers what he has led the spectator to expect." Mark Webber (Leeds International Film Festival catalogue 2000)
John Smith lives and works in London.
The exhibition will include the full length showing of: 'Om' (1986), 'Gargantuan' (1992), 'The Waste Land' (1999) and 'Pyramids/Skunk' (2006/7).
The exhibition will also include excerpts from: 'Associations' (1975), 'The Girl Chewing Gum' (1976), 'Shepherd's Delight' (1984), 'The Black Tower' (1987), 'Slow Glass' (1992), 'Blight' (1996), 'Regression' (1999), 'Lost Sound' (2001) and 'Worst Case Scenario' (2003).
John Smith is online at www.tank.tv from 1st March to 15th April 2007.
For distribution contact [email protected]
For additional information see http://www.luxonline.org.uk/artists/john\_smith/index.html
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For press enquiries please contact: Alice O'Reilly [email protected]
tank.tv / Tank Magazine 49-50 Great Marlborough Street London - W1F 7JR - UK - Tel: +44 (0) 207 434 0110