CONDITION OF ILLUSION
“A film is materialist if it does not cover its apparatus of illusionism. Thus it is not a transmitter of anti-illusionism pure and simple, uncovered truth, but rather, a constant procedural work against the attempts at producing an illusionist continuum’s hegemony."
– Peter Gidal
Peter Gidal enrolled at the Royal College of Art in London where he began his career as an experimental filmmaker. He helped found the London Film-Makers’ Coop, and his films were shown in the 1960s at various underground London venues. One of the major proponents of British structural cinema, Gidal has been a proponent of such American structuralist filmmakers as Michael Snow and Hollis Frampton.
Close up of translucent DVD packaging and booklet.
Gidal’s own films are interrogations into the formalist aspect of film, with an emphasis on grain, duration, tempo and editing structures. This is accompanied by an almost willful insistence on the filmmakers as the ultimate arbiter of the construction of any work. Gidal’s films also invite the spectator to consider various aspects of the meditation between the real and the reel.
CLOUDS (1967)
The DVD of CONDITION OF ILLUSION brings together 11 films by Peter Gidal made between 1967 to 2013. It is accompanied by a unique 40 page booklet of texts about the filmmaker’s work by Patricia L. Boyd, Stephen Heath and Chris Kennedy. The booklet is composed of transparent pages and was designed by Diana Vidrascu at Re:Voir. The release of this DVD edition also coincides with the publication of the book Flare Out: Aesthetics 1966-2016 published by the Visible Press.
UPSIDE DOWN FEATURE (1967-72)
EPILOGUE (1968)
FOCUS (1971)
flare out (1992)
NO NIGHT NO DAY (1997)
Contents
Format: DVD-PAL / Region 0
(No Regional Code); Inquire for downloadable DSL file/s
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CONDITION OF ILLUSION
(UK, 1967-2013)
Director: Peter Gidal
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CLOUDS
(UK, 1967)
• 10 minutes
• 16mm
• B&W
• Sound
◊
FOCUS
(UK, 1971)
• 7 minutes
• 16mm
• B&W
• Sound
◊
UPSIDE DOWN FEATURE
(UK, 1967-72)
• 62 minutes
• 16mm
• B&W, color
• Sound
◊
EPILOGUE
(UK, 1968)
• 9 minutes
• 16mm
• Color
• Silent
◊
GUILT
(UK, 1988)
• 40 minutes
• 16mm
• Color
• Silent
◊
FLARE OUT
(UK, 1992)
• 15 minutes
• 16mm
• Color
• Sound
◊
ASSUMPTION
(UK, 1997)
• 1:30 minutes
• 16mm
• Color
• Sound
◊
NO NIGHT NO DAY
(UK, 1997)
• 14 minutes
• 16mm
• Color
• Silent
◊
CODA I
(UK, 2013)
• 2 minutes
• 16mm
• Color
• Sound
◊
CODA II
(UK, 2013)
• 2 minutes
• 16mm
• Color
• Sound
_________________________________________
Bonus Material
ROOM (DOUBLE TAKE)
(UK, 1967)
• 10 minutes
• 16mm
• B&W
• Sound
◊
• 40 page booklet of texts about the filmmaker’s work by Patricia L. Boyd, Stephen Heath and Chris Kennedy. The booklet is composed of transparent pages and was designed by Diana Vidrascu at RE:VOIR.
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
Total Running Time: 02:57:30
Booklet Text: Patricia L. Boyd, Stephen Heath & Chris Kennedy
Published By: Re:Voir Video
Institutional Price: $250 (plus shipping), Digital File Download $500.
To order call: 212.280.8654 or click here for information on ordering by fax, e-mail or post.