Date: 3 July 2002 | Season: Infinite Projection
HARRY SMITH: AMERICAN MAGUS
Wednesday 3 July 2002, at 7:30pm
London The Photographers’ Gallery
A documentary by Paola Igliori (editor of an indispensable book with the same title) which provides a fascinating insight into the life and work of singular genius Harry Smith, whose pioneering abstract films were only a small part of his anthropological pursuits. His broad range of interests, including alchemy, the occult, folk music, field recordings, Seminole textiles and Ukranian Easter Eggs, are represented in this suitably kaleidoscopic film which flits between mysticism and secularity.
Paola Igliori, American Magus, Italy/USA, 2002, video, colour, sound, 93 min
PROGRAMME NOTES
HARRY SMITH: AMERICAN MAGUS
Wednesday 3 July 2002, at 7:30pm
London The Photographers’ Gallery
AMERICAN MAGUS
Paola Igliori, Italy/USA, 2002, video, colour, sound, 93 min
(UK premiere)
“It took a little time, but now at last a full length documentary has been made about the cult figure Harry Smith, one of the hidden jewels of the intellectual and artistic history of America in the 20th century. Smith became known to a certain extent with his Anthology of American Folk Music in 1952, but his brilliant spirit and versatility extended much further. In 1950, he received a Guggenheim grant for his non-objective films and paintings, as anthropologist he was interested in anything from peyote to string figures. He was a revolutionary collector looking for the synchronous patterns in different kinds of objects to find their inner language and he was one of the most grisly and erudite occultists ever.
“Filmmaker and poet Paola Igliori, who had an intense relationship with Smith in the last months of his life, uses interviews with Allen Ginsberg, Robert Frank, Jonas Mekas and others, and pictures from his films, his countless collections, synthetic diagrams and rare archive material, to sketch a fascinating portrait of the man who influenced artists from Gregory Corso to DJ Spooky, and of whom was said that he lived a thousand lives in one. Or, to quote one of the many eloquent statements: “Without Harry Smith I wouldn’t have existed!” (Bob Dylan).”
(Catalogue of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2002)
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