Our annual list of the best artists’ moving image related books and DVDs of 2014, please let us know what you think we missed…
Film as Film: The Collected Writings of Gregory J. Markopoulos, Book published by The Visible Press. A beautiful and weighty hardback book edited and published by Mark Webber under his new imprint the Visible Press, a labour of love years in the making, which meticulously collects Markopoulos’ extraordinary written output.
The George Kuchar Reader, Edited by Andrew Lampert, Book published by Primary Information. Another essential labour of love, artist and archivist Andrew Lampert makes a eclectic selection of Kuchar’s writings, perfecting capturing George’s unique and frequently hilarious voice.
TV Museum: Contemporary Art and the Age of Television, Maeve Connolly. Book published by Intellect/University of Chicago Press. In this substantial and thoughtful work Maeve Connolly reflects on artists’ engagement with television as both subject and platform.
The View from the Train: Cities and Other Landscapes, Patrick Keiller. Book published by Verso. Terrific collection of essays by much loved filmmaker Patrick Keiller capturing his ongoing interest in landscape, architecture and the city.
Joyce Wieland, Life and Work, Johanne Sloan. Free ebook published by the Art Canada Institute. Essential guide to the major Canadian film artist Joyce Wieland.
Los Angeles Plays Itself, Thom Andersen. Blu-Ray/ DVD published by Cinema Guild in USA. One of the major artists’ feature films of the past ten years, a DVD we never thought we’d see due the major rights headaches it must entail, is finally here in a beautiful new remastered version.
Chris Marker Collection. Sunday In Peking / Letter From Siberia / Description Of A Struggle/ La Sixieme Face De Pentagone / L’Ambassade / Theorie Des Ensembles / Trois Videos Haikus / Casque Bleu / E-clip-se / Chat Perches. Blu Ray/DVD from Soda, UK. We can never have enough Chris Marker on DVD and thanks to Soda for publishing this low-cost collection to tie in with the recent Chris Marker exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery.
Fragments of Kubelka, Martina Kudlácek. DVD published in Austria by Edition Filmmuseum. Essential portrait of one of the giants of experimental filmmaking, Peter Kubelka which as well as capturing his work and charismatic personality is great work of portrait filmmaking.
Jean Epstein Boxset. DVD Boxset published by Potemkine Film. Beautifully produced boxset collecting reproduced versions of all Jean Epstein’s productions along with a 160 page booklet.
Film Manifestos and Global Cinema Cultures: A Critical Anthology, Scott MacKenzie (Editor). Book published by University of California Press. Fascinating collection of manifestos including a number from the more ‘avant-garde’ end of the spectrum, unfortunately only available in a very expensive hardcover version at the moment.
LUX Publications. Last but not least this year LUX has released Perestroika by Sarah Turner one of the major British artists’ feature films of the past decade, A collection of films by Nicky Hamlyn, a key figure in British experimental filmmaking since the 1970s, a collection of Guy Sherwin’s much loved Short Film Series, Sarah Pucill’s brilliant Claude Cahun-inspired feature, Magic Mirror and New Contemporaries Film and Video, a huge collection of works shown at the annual exhibition since 1968.
