Visible Inventory 6: Motel Dissolve

The sixth in a group of eight “Visible Inventories” in various media (2 films, 2 photo grids, 1 videotape, and 2 natural light installations) which list or catalogue my personal fascinations with natural phenomena. (1974-9) A space filled with moving…a series of panning shots of motel rooms in which the film-maker stayed during semi-annual transcontinental auto trips – homogenous accommodations lacking locational cues. Superimposed over the screen image are the names of the towns in which the rooms are located and the car’s odometer reading at each location. The sound track consists of two Gertrude Stein texts: “America I Came and Here I Am” and “American Food and American Houses” both from 1935. The film counterpoints printed word, spoken text, and photographs giving the viewer the alternate options of reading, viewing, and listening. Funded in part by a grant from the Ohio Arts Council. – J.C.L. This film is the subject of a 2022 scholarly book by German art writer Jordis Lau,  entitled Appropriations of Literary Modernism in Media, published by De Gruyter.