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COUNTERCULTURE: LONDON IN THE SIXTIES<\/strong> After The Beatles shook the nation out of the cultural dark ages, Swinging London was the place to be. Prompted by the example of the American Beats, English experimenters and creative rebels challenged the conventions of art, music, literature, filmmaking and society itself.<\/p>\n The Boyle Family, Poem for Hoppy, 1967, 16mm on video, colour, sound, 4 min<\/strong> COUNTERCULTURE: LONDON IN THE SIXTIES<\/strong> POEM FOR HOPPY WHOLLY COMMUNION TOWERS OPEN FIRE SPEAK RICHARD HAMILTON
\nSunday 25 May 2008, at 12pm<\/strong>
\nZurich Videoex Festival Cinema Z3<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n Peter Whitehead, Wholly Communion, 1965, 16mm, b\/w, sound, 32 min<\/strong>
\n Antony Balch & William Burroughs, Towers Open Fire, 1963, 16mm, b\/w & colour, sound, 16 min<\/strong>
\n John Latham, Speak, 1968-69, 16mm, sound, colour, 11 min<\/strong>
\n James Scott, Richard Hamilton, 1969, 16mm, colour, sound, 25 min<\/strong><\/p>\nPROGRAMME NOTES<\/a>
\nSunday 25 May 2008, at 12pm
\nZurich Videoex Festival Cinema Z3<\/p>\n
\nThe Boyle Family, 1967, 16mm on video, colour, sound, 4 min
\n<\/strong>An improvised performance by Soft Machine and the Sensual Laboratory at the legendary UFO Club, in protest against John Hopkins\u2019 excessive conviction for marijuana possession. (MW)<\/p>\n
\nPeter Whitehead, 1965, 16mm, b\/w, sound, 32 min
\n<\/strong>The International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall started London\u2019s sixties adventure. Whitehead\u2019s crisply shot, half-hour film is remarkably comprehensive in documenting key performances of the evening, and captures the tangible sense of expectation that must have permeated the atmosphere within the cavernous concert hall. Wholly Communion<\/em> not only encapsulates this seminal moment in which the underground went public, but remains one of the few records of a whole generation of poets performing in their prime. (MW)<\/p>\n
\nAntony Balch, 1963, 16mm, colour, sound, 16 min
\n<\/strong>Envisioned as a cinematic realisation of Burroughs\u2019 key themes such as the breakdown in control, the film contains rapid editing, flicker, strobing and extreme jump cuts that interrupt the narrative flow. The British Censor requested removal of some offensive language from the soundtrack but passed (or failed to recognise) the shots of Balch masturbating, and of Burroughs shooting up. (MW)<\/p>\n
\nJohn Latham, 1968-69, 16mm, sound, colour, 11 min
\n<\/strong>Speak<\/em> is his second attack on the cinema. Not since Len Lye\u2019s films in the thirties has England produced such a brilliant example of animated abstraction. Speak<\/em> burns its way directly into the brain. It is one of the few films about which it can truly be said, \u2018it will live in your mind\u2019. (Raymond Durgnat)<\/p>\n
\nJames Scott, 1969, 16mm, colour, sound, 25 min
\n<\/strong>Devoid of authoritative voiceover, the film presents samples of the artist\u2019s work alongside reference materials, found footage, scenes from Hollywood features and news reports of the notorious Rolling Stones drugs trial. Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe and Patricia Knight (in Sirk and Fuller\u2019s long forgotten Shockproof<\/em>) also make appearances as the film traces the inspiration behind some of Hamilton\u2019s signature paintings. (MW)<\/p>\n