DVD Compilation

These experimental films and videos were shot in the house, out the window, in the yard, down the road, etc, in the rural Oley Valley (near Reading, Pa.) where I live. They span a little more than two decades and range from super-8 to 16mm blow-ups, to silent and in-camera-edited-sync-sound super-8's (some of them re-photographed), to more recent videos that are foten layered and image-processed. All of them are hopefully lyrics of high visual intensity that celebrate the expressive potential of the medium they were created in and the simple grace of taking pleasure in seeing and hearing the world (the loss of the which is increasingly threatened in the sad times [2005] we are living through).

Compilation includes the following works:
Shadow Hunting (1981, S-8mm, 2 min. sil.) - exploiting the painterly 'smear' quality of undercranked 6 fps projected S-8: Shadow hunts, I follow.

Pie Plates (1980, S-8 to 16mm, 5:44 min) - a John Cage inspired (his work for prepared piano accompanies the visuals) backyard yin/yang, optically printed meditation. ("a lingering impression of harmony using a minimal amount of footage" - Linda Gross, LA Times

Fontana (1988, S-8mm, 4:09 min.) - in the shower: after the grotesque fountains I saw in Rome.

S-8 Diary: Wildwood (1988, S-8mm, 2:23 min.) - a Sunday drive down the Jersey shore and back which we often did when Linda's parents (from Wildwood) were alive.

Cinesongs for Storm De Hirsch (1990, S-8mm, 10:55 min.) - homage to one of the pioneers of experimental S-8, Storm De Hirsch; seasonal images arising and fading simultaneously (shown in MoMA's "Big as Life: An American History of 8mm Films" program).

Oley (1993, Hi-8 video, 10 min. sil. & sound) - harvest time in Oley Valley.

Witchway (1995, Hi-8 video, 7:12 min. sil. & sound) - under the feedback spell of an Oley spirity and her familiar. ("...deftly uses themes from Penna. folklore to create a powerfully haunting and chilling descent into an autumnal netherworld." - Albert Kilchesty.)

Outside In (1995, Hi-8 video, 8:50 min.) - an interior/exterior domestic meditation.

Lotus Song 2 (2000, mini-DV, 6:47 min.) - the second part of the life-cycle of a Lotus and its surround; a song of natural artifice.

Imaginary pond with real frogs (2001, mini-DV, 8:44 min.) - after Marianna Moore's definition of poetry as "the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads."

Sonata (2001, mini-DV, 3:27 min., sil.) - visual music to "soothe the scythe" (Ed Sanders); a reaction to 9/11.