“Films as Found Object”

Stefano Basilico’s well-rounded exhibition on artists’ use of films–not film–as a medium got a nice review from Roberta Smith in the NYT. My absolute favorite piece in the show–which was in Miami last winter–is Christian Marclay’s Video Quartet. But Pierre Huyghe’s smart, touching work, L’Ellipse also stands out for the way it toys with film’s conventions of time and narrative. Huyghe filmed a 10-minute walk across the Seine that was implied by an edit in Wim Wenders’ film, The American Friend. [Smith calls it a jump cut, which it’s technically not. True, the movie jumps from one side of the Seine to the other, but a jump cut is actually a break in time at the same spot or scene.]
A Medium In The Making [nyt]
CUT/ Film As Found Object, at Milwaukee Art Museum through Sept. 11 [mam