LUX Mres Art: Moving Image Public Lecture. The Ambivalence of Influence: Brakhage, Warhol and after

The Ambivalence of Influence: Brakhage, Warhol and after. A lecture by James Boaden

In the 1960s the writer Parker Tyler examined together the films of Stan Brakhage and those made by Andy Warhol – contrasting the way in which they framed shots, edited footage, and thought about the camera itself – concluding that they represented opposite ends of the filmmaking spectrum at that time. This comparison has structured many later accounts of their work – including significant essays by Annette Michelson and David E. James. Both filmmakers were engaged in an aggressive assault on the way in which film was conventionally consumed in the 1960s, and their practices were hugely influential on a range of younger filmmakers. Both filmmakers’ work, and the persona they used to support the practice, posed difficult questions in relation to the late 1960s counterculture. Both refused to stake a direct political claim for their work (yet repeatedly addressed political material within it), and, while working all the time with issues of sexuality and gender, they antagonised advocates for identity politics (to near-fatal ends in Warhol’s case). This talk will look at some of the ways in which filmmakers (from the 1960s to today) who have referenced the work of Warhol and Brakhage in their work have expressed a profound ambivalence towards it – refusing either critique or homage.

James Boaden is a lecturer in the history of art at the University of York. He is currently working on a book about the circle of Stan Brakhage from 1950-1965. He has curated film screenings at BFI Southbank, Tate Modern, and La Virreina, Barcelona and has published essays in Art History, Oxford Art Journal, and Little Joe.

MRes Art: Moving Image

Over the past two decades, artists moving image has proven itself a dynamic and thriving area of art practice, to be encountered in the gallery, museum, cinema auditorium, and a host of other unexpected venues. But what about the rich and fascinating histories, theories and aesthetics that have led to artists turn to film and video? And what insights can a study of artists moving image offer us for understanding the diverse practices that now fill art spaces internationally as well as in the UK? A unique collaboration between LUX and Central St Martins College of Art has created a research led masters degree to address these questions lead by Dr Lucy Reynolds. The Mres Art: Moving Image programme is now open for applications for 2015/16 For more information see CSM website or contact Lucy Reynolds directly at lucy[at]lux.org.uk