Really feeling Screening Room DVDs lately. Screening Room was a 70s Boston TV show devoted to experimental cinema, hosted by the amazing Robert Gardner. Filmmakers like Robert Breer, Yvonne Rainer, Hollis Frampton, and Jan Lenica (and sometimes philosophers like Stanley Cavell) would sit and chat with Gardner, free associating on art and film while drinking tea from cool ceramic mugs. One of my favorite episodes features surrealist animator Suzan Pitt, whose sexually frank "Asparagus" toured with David Cronenberg's "Eraserhead" for several years. To me her most fascinating work is "Jefferson Circus Songs," a far-out dream-piece filmed with the help of students at MCAD. Great music by Yale Marshall. I'm not sure who did the music for "Asparagus" but it's also pretty neat.
Great post. I'm a big fan of Pitt's films and I didn't know about the existence of this SR episode on her.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the music from Asparagus is performed by Steve Lacy, Takehisa Kosugi, George Lewis and Steve Potts. (see http://thesoundofeye.blogspot.com/2010/10/suzan-pitt-asparagus-1979.html, where you can also download it)
boy, i sure would love to see david cronenberg's "eraserhead."
ReplyDeleteAmazing! There's loads of Screening Room clips on YouTube, but pretty motivated to shell out the clams for the full set, pricey as it may be.
ReplyDeleteI just typed "screening room" into Netflix and the first result was... Neil Patrick Harris!
ReplyDeleteYou might be able to find them at your library.
I grew up in a suburb of Boston in the 70s and I watched A LOT of TV as a kid, show that no normal kid would watch. Somehow I miss this program, shame.
ReplyDeleteThanks for turning me on to this.
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David Lynch made "Eraserhead," not David Cronenberg.
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