Available for the first time on DVD, Guy Sherwin's acclaimed Short Film Series, a unique collection of interconnected 16mm 3 minute films started in 1975. The series is held together by certain formal considerations: each film is three minutes long, i.e. the length of a roll of 16mm film, all films are b/w and silent, and the order in which they are shown is flexible. Apart from this there is a range of imagery from portraiture to still life to travel. The films operate on the border between movement and stillness, revealing their inner logic through an active engagement in looking.
"100 ft reels of epiphanies, time-lapse studies, ordinary objects and scenes rendered strange and ambiguous." - Michael O'Pray
"Sherwin's hallmark is the direct concentrated image which fully exploits the tonal range of black and white stock. This control is not at all rigid, since its purpose is to capture in the shot a certain kind of freedom and chance in the visible world." - A.L.Rees"
"The uniform duration of the films, the overriding concern with light, time and corporeality, the relentless three-minute focus on a single subject or event, are common to all the films and provide a powerful cumulative effect for the viewer. But on a deeper level, what binds these films together and gives them their enduring fascination is the deeply human connection which Sherwin makes between his formal filmmaking concerns and the subjects of his films. These films are all about relationships - between light and darkness, light and camera, camera and subject, subject and filmmaker and viewer, all at once and played out not only on the screen but also in the mysterious conjunction between the projected film and the viewer." - Andy Ditzler
This DVD contains:
Metronome, 1978
Chimney, 1977
Columns, 1977
Cycle, 1978
Yi Wei, 2011
Mei, 2010
Guy & Kai, 2013
Candle & Clock, 1977
Blink, 1977
Window/Light, 2013
Tree Reflection, 1997/8
Cat, 1997/8
Treeline, 1976
Maya, 1978
Window, 1976
Breathing, 1978
Light Leaves, 1978
Eye, 1978
Swimming, 1977
Clouds & Wires, 1997/8
Tree & Cloud, 1997/8
Coots, 1997/8
Cat on TV, 1977
Handcrank Clock, 1976
Gnats, 1997/8
Night Train, 1978
Tap, 1978
Track, 1976
Hand/ Shutter, 1976
Clock & Train, 1978
Portrait with Parents,1975
Barn, 1978
Wind & Water, 1980
Piano, 2013
Published by LUX with the support of the University of Wolverhampton and Middlesex University.
This DVD is for private home use only, please contact LUX directly for institutional orders.
