Nathaniel Dorsky: An Interview

Resource Information

The work Nathaniel Dorsky: An Interview represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Randwick City Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Moving Image, Visual Materials.

Label

Nathaniel Dorsky: An Interview

Contributor

• Kanopy (Firm)

Subject

• Experimental/Alternative Media
• Film Studies

Summary

Nathaniel Dorsky's films are precise articulations of cinematic qualities: the surprise of an edit, the composition of framing, and the flash of the image. Dubbed the "filmmaker's filmmaker", Dorsky's work captures the fleeting moments of everyday life in its poetic chaos in such films as Pneuma (1976-82), Triste (1974-96), Alaya (1976-87), and Variations (1992-98). Using a spring-wound Bolex and 16mm reversal stock film, Dorsky's films operate in the realm of the purely visual. In his contribution to the On Art and Artists interview series, Nathaniel Dorsky (b.1943) begins by discussing his childhood love of the John Ford film Stagecoach and its influence upon his decision to make films while attending Antioch College. Describing the affinity he developed for work operating at the intersection of film materiality and personal language, Dorsky explains how he developed his philosophy of the "devotional film" and the "microcosmic viewer." Dorsky likens his practice to Buddhist sculpture, referring to himself as a "Japanese poet continuing aspects of the ethos of the Marxist revolution." In the interview, the artist describes his use of the screen as an "altarpiece for the image" and emphasizes his use of editing to create works which "harmoniously coalesce." --Kyle Riley Interview conducted by Jeffrey Skoller in May 2000, edited in 2014

Cataloging source

VDU

Characteristic

videorecording

Date time place

Originally produced by Video Data Bank in 2000

Language note

In English

Runtime

57

Technique

live action