After Uniqueness: A History of Film and Video Art in Circulation

313 Pages·2017·20.183 MB·English

by  Balsom, Erika

Erika Balsom
After
Uniqueness
A History of Film
and Video Art
in Circulation
Erika Balsom
After
Uniqueness
A History of Film
and Video Art
in Circulation
Erika Balsom
After
After Uniqueness
Film and Culture
Film and Culture
A series of Columbia University Press
EDITED BY JOHN BELTON
For a complete list of books in this series, see pages 299–302.
After
Unique-
ness
A History of Film and
Video Art in Circulation
ERIKA BALSOM
Columbia
University
Press
New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York(cid:3273)Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2017 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Balsom, Erika, author.
Title: After uniqueness : a history of (cid:1006)lm and video art in circulation /
(cid:3273)Erika Balsom.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2017] |
(cid:3273)Series: Film and culture | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identi(cid:1006)ers: LCCN 2016040252 | ISBN 9780231176927 (cloth : alk. paper) |
(cid:3273)ISBN 9780231176934 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780231543125 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Motion picture audiences—History. | Video art—History. |
(cid:3273)Motion pictures and the arts. | Art and motion pictures. | Motion picture
(cid:3273)industry—Technological innovations.
Classi(cid:1006)cation: LCC PN1995.9.A8 B35 2017 | DDC 302.23/43—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016040252
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Lisa Hamm
Contents
Acknowledgments(cid:3273)vii
Introduction: Copy Rites(cid:3273)1
1 The Promise and Threat of Reproducibility(cid:3273)25
2 8 mm and the “Blessings of Books and Records”(cid:3273)54
3 Bootlegging Experimental Film(cid:3273)81
4 Copyright and the Commons(cid:3273)106
5 The Limited Edition(cid:3273)127
6 The Event of Projection(cid:3273)166
7 A Cinematic Bayreuth(cid:3273)192
8 Transmission, from the Movie-Drome to Vdrome(cid:3273)219
Notes(cid:3273)237
Bibliography(cid:3273)271
Index(cid:3273)285

Acknowledgments
I
didn’t know it at the time and I’m sure he will be surprised to hear
it, but this project began with a comment Phil Rosen made on a
dissertation chapter of mine many years ago. Thank you, Phil, for
pointing me beyond the PhD and preparing me so well for what came after.
This book took shape with support from an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoc-
toral Fellowship in Film and Media at UC Berkeley and developed further
with a junior faculty research grant at Carleton University and an Insight
grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Can-
ada. Research at the Temenos Archive was supported by a small research
grant from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at King’s College London.
Workshops supported by the Danish Council for Independent Research–
funded project “The Power of the Precarious Aesthetic,” led by Arild Fet-
veit, were central to the development of chapter 3. A residency on Fogo
Island supported by Fogo Island Arts allowed time for writing and re(cid:1008)ec-
tion, particularly on questions of authenticity. Thank you to Gareth Long
for (cid:1006)rst getting me to Fogo and to Zita Cobb, Jack Stanley, and Iris Stünzi
for the opportunity to go home in a way I never anticipated.
Many friends and colleagues have been endlessly generous and helpful
during the writing of this book. In London, I feel very fortunate to be a
part of two inspiring communities that have deeply shaped this research:
the Department of Film Studies at King’s College London and a broader
VIII ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
network of colleagues invested in artists’ moving image. I am grateful
to those of you near and far who have o(cid:1016)ered your time and knowledge,
given me tips, answered my random questions, invited me to present this
work, read drafts, and participated in many thought-provoking conver-
sations. Thank you to Lisa Akervall, Sam Ashby, Marcos Bastos, Thomas
Beard, Mark Betz, François Bovier, Enrico Camporesi, Francesco Casetti,
George Clark, Ben Cook, Amanda Donnan, Cate Elwes, Christine Evans, Ted
Fendt, Arild Fetveit, Seb Franklin, Luke Fowler, René Gimpel, Loren Glass,
Leo Goldsmith, Johanna Gosse, Malini Guha, Josh Guilford, André Habib,
Malte Hagener, Ed Halter, Vinzenz Hediger, Nanna Heidenrach, Birgit
Hein, Nathan Holmes, Eli Horwatt, Steven Jacobs, Shanay Jhaveri, Omar
Kholeif, Dan Kidner, Kim Knowles, Andy Lampert, Isla Leaver-Yap, Phil
Leers, Erica Levin, Andrea Lissoni, Frances Loe(cid:1013)er, Owen Lyons, Gabriel
Menotti, Adeena Mey, Patricia Moran, Maja Naef, Maria Palacios Cruz, Vida
Panitch, Colin Perry, Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis, Michele Pierson, Emily Pill-
inger, Steve Polta, Jonathan Pouthier, Filipa Ramos, Lucy Reynolds, David
Richler, Ben Rivers, Ben Russell, Rebekah Rutko(cid:1016), Susanne Saether, Sara
Saljoughi, Herb Schellenberger, Zach Seely, Marc Siegel, Michelle Silva,
P. Adams Sitney, Antonio Somaini, Mike Sperlinger, Derek Sullivan, Tess
Takahashi, Mark Toscano, Jonathan Walley, Mark Webber, Federico Wind-
hausen, Kevin Wynter, and Michael Zryd.
I am extremely grateful for the assistance of the archivists and archives
that made this research possible, including the Archives of American Art;
the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley; Bradley R.
Arnold at the University of Colorado, Boulder; Steven Ball at the Artists’
Film and Video Study Collection at Central St. Martins; Robert Beavers at
the Temenos Archive; Paolo Cherchi Usai and Jared Case at George East-
man House; Nicole C. Dittrich at Syracuse University; Robert Haller at
Anthology Film Archives; Mark Paul Meyer at Eye Film Museum; and M. M.
Serra at the Film-Makers’ Cooperative in New York. Thank you to Daniel
Feinberg at Marian Goodman Gallery, Chris Rawson at David Zwirner Gal-
lery, and Cristen Sperry-Garcia at Bill Viola Studio LLC for responding to
my queries regarding editioning.
Thanks, as always, to my parents. This book is for Mike and Marcel.
After Uniqueness