Part 2 of Reconstruction
of Story 3 presents the works of American experimental filmmaker David
Gatten and experimental filmmaker and artist Kevin Jerome Everson who have
both, in their respective ways, continued to consistently conduct experiments
that incarnate the abstract body of film.
The first line in The
Extravagant Shadows (2012), the first digital feature by David Gatten who
had made only 16mm films, is “The idea is one of contingency. Everybody must feel that something
has been missed, because electing one course of life precludes any other”. When a color is painted over the surface of a frame showing the
image of books in a study, the image of the book disappears and a text quote
gradually appears and then evaporates much like vapor. As such, Gatten’s films make one realize that the time you gaze upon subjects which
appear and disappear is a time of waiting and discovery.
Part 2 of Reconstruction
of Story 3 presents his recent films after his series of exploring the
study of William Byrd II which he started in 1996 and The Great Art of
Knowing (2004) which won him international acclaim. The compass of his
films points in two directions. One engages the shape of letters, which are the
visual presentation of language where light, shadow, lines and colors - the
most fundamental elements that compose the structure of the outside world -
form the basis of the human psyche. The other leans toward poetic rhythm based
on nature, his young daughter, or his affection for his friends, which are the
most important constituents of Gatten’s personal life. These two leave a lingering trace of moments that
disappear like vapor and offer the audience time for lucid contemplation.
Kevin Jerome Everson
captures the essential form of modern humans in a capitalist society during
moments of labor. His film does not choose to locate stories that can be
perceived as corresponding to certain themes in the lives of African-American
laborers that reflect a certain era and environment. Rather than constructing
realistic stories through actual episodes of the workplace, he gives body to
the concentration of power within the behavior of laborers who have been thrown
in. His works depart from the stereotypical cause and effect relationship of
documentaries, even in films like Company Line (2009) and The Island
of St. Matthews (2013) which combine the method of interviewing residents
of a certain local area telling their stories. As in Rams 23 VS Blue Bears
21 (2017) and Workers Leaving the Job Site (2013), which pay homage
to the early films produced by the Lumiere brothers, his movies document the
genuine existential reality of laborers. Therefore, he does not reproduce the
workplace of laborers with a sense of dramatic reality but instead
paradoxically arouses our interest in historicity through the abstract pattern
that is obtained when the focus is on the moment of existence void of
explanation. We, the workers, are able to see ourselves in his shorts and
features, including Park Lanes (2015) which observes over 8 hours in
real time the site where bowling equipment is produced.
MasterClass sessions with
David Gatten and Kevin Jerome Everson respectively who will be visiting Korea
will present the opportunity to learn about the driving force, philosophy and
methodology that constitute their work.
※ Reconstruction of Story 3 Screening Schedule
※ Reconstruction of Story 3 Brochure
