Fuses: Carolee Schneemann

 Presentation Notes:

In the film Schneemann wishes to show

  • Schneemann has been obsessed with sexuality since a very young age.
  • This film is not only early video work but also early feminist work.
  • She explains in an interview that her sexual satisfaction fuels her work.
  • This film was shown in a time where sexuality was more of a taboo than now … even between partners.
  • Some people had a kind of epiphany. they do not need to feel guilty
  • The intimacy of the sexual act filmed by a 16mm film camera
  • She shows this by adding scratches to the film itself. This represents the energy of the body.
  • This is different from the digital film, which we work with today. It is more difficult to get the same effect today.
  • The film itself seems to have been treated with bleach, baked in an oven, soaked in urine, and painted, scratched and burnt
  • It is a feeling of density closeness and a fading in and out of a certain state of mind … like sexual pleasure
  • It is not filmed through a window for instance. This is not a voyeur style like many other videos circulating on the net.
  • Schneemann says there is no fetishization of women. I still believe the male gaze is present. Some angles look like her boyfriend took them. She poses like a model.
  • Nature sounds and images are mixed in. This is a parallel with how this sexual behaviour is natural.
  • Also, the indifference of nature show by the tree and especially by her cat Kitch.
  • Stan Brakhage is said to be an inspiration for Schneemann as he created a film entitled Window Water Baby Moving. It is a graphic film about the birth of a child. He inspired Schneemann to also experiment with collage techniques on celluloid.
  • Carolee Schneemann is part of the Fluxus movement. They are a group of 60s artists who blend media and their techniques to create original styles. It is mostly experimental.
  • The addition of Kitch in this work and many others is one of the artist’s trademarks. It is discussed that he may be an objective observer (indifference of nature).  Therefore, unaffected by human conscience. Schneemann found cats to be very important. It is possible to make a link between this as cats have been representative of luxury passion and finess since the time of the Egyptians.

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Friday, January 18th, 2008. Filed under: Digital Media

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