Lutz Becker and Dominic Willsdon, Vita Futurista  A new version of Becker's acclaimed film Vita Futurista is being released on the occasion of the 2009 Centenary of Italian Futurism. It covers the story of Futurism from its beginnings in 1909 till the 1930s. The exhibition presented by Tate Modern concentrates on the first phase of Futurism which ended with the death of Boccioni in 1916. The film continues the history of Futurism through its second phase.

Sophie Howarth, Gill Perry and Claire Bishop, Discussion 2

Gill Perry, Sculpture and Performance in Ana Mendieta's Silueta Series  Studies of Mendieta's work have frequently interpreted her earth/body art as both instilled with primitivist fantasies of a feminine primordial power, and an obsessive response to trauma and loss.

Sophie Howarth, Ian White and Claire Bishop, Discussion 2  The speakers consider how changing Utopian ideologies have motivated artists, architects, designers and filmmakers in Europe and America over the last hundred years. The topics covered include the pioneering first wave of abstract art in the early twentieth century, visions of Utopia in avant-garde film, and post-modern explorations of the concept of Utopia by contemporary artists

Ian White, Cinema, Cinema, Utopia  Ian's talk considers representations of Utopia in classic and experimental cinema asking how these reflect not only the general idea and operating principles of an avant-garde but also how they mimic the way in which the cinema auditorium itself functions. Further Reading Close Up 1927-1933, ed. James Donald, Anne Friedberg, Laura Marcus (Cassell, London 1998) The Great Art of Light and Shadow; Archaeology of the cinema, Laurent Mannoni (University of Exeter Press, Exeter, 2000) A History of Experimental Film and Video, A.L. Rees (British Film Institute, London 1999)

Matthew Gale, Ian Christie, Gill Perry and Dawn Ades, Discussion 2  A video recording a discussion from the Tate Modern Surrealism and Film Study Day conference

Ian Christie, 'The marvellous is popular!' Dalí in the context of Hollywood surrealism  Surrealism started as a revolt against the idea of elite avant-gardism, and even if it eventually became a new avant-garde, its adherents maintained an enthusiasm for popular culture, including mainstream and genre cinema, becoming arbiters in this field. This presentation examines two strands in Hollywood cinema to which Dalí, like other Surrealists, was drawn – the carnivalesque and the erotic-romantic – and will also consider the Freudian morality drama, to which he eventually contributed. Further Reading

Elliott King, Dalí, Fonzie, and what 'Late Dalí and Film' can tell us about Late Dalí and Everything Else  Speaker: Elliott King, a specialist in Dalí's post-war art and cosmogony. His first book, Dalí, Surrealism and Cinema (2007), is published by Kamera Books. Critics have often identified Dalí's 1941 rejection of Surrealism in favour of 'classicism' as the 'tipping point' when his work began to decline. His activity with film offers a compelling challenge to that history.

Discussion 1 A video recording of a discussion from the Tate Modern Surrealism and Film Study Day

Dawn Ades, Why Film?  Was there, for Dalí, a special appeal in film? Was it an alternative to his paintings, adaptable to certain effects beyond the reach of the canvas? Was it an extension of the pictorial image, or rather of his writings? Dawn Ades reviews Dalí's affair with film, a story of disappointments and optimism. Further Reading Paul Hammond L'Age d'or BFI Film Classics 1997 Dawn Ades "Morphologies of Desire" in Salvador Dali: The Early Years South Bank Centre 1994 Salvador Dali "The Rotting Donkey" (1930) in Haim Finkelstein The Collected Writings of Salvador Dali CUP 1998 p.223

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