Thanks, Michael. Those are very interesting subjects. I usually refrain from being the first to answer, but I can't resist adding my 2c here.,,
1) Yes, Sitney's nomeclature was inadequate from the start, since it is very limited and leaves out many types of filmmaking. But it's funny that you have left Structural Films out :-) Also Materialist Films (according to Gidal's classification). Then there is a certain kind of 'avant-garde fiction' for lack of a better term, which I've always considered to be on the line.
2) That is an endemic problem of Academia, and not only related to A-G. This reminds me of someone saying (I cannot remember right now who) that real experimental film ended when filmmakers started having teaching postiions. The problem with teaching, Academia... is that they create the concept of canon, set what's 'right' or 'wrong'. In many ways this may have hurt the form but, for example, until very recently the main clients of the archives and cooperatives were the universities where there was a space for this medium to be shown and taught.
3) When you mention background music, I instantly think of elevator music,.. :-) A-G films have been used as 'background' (Sonic Youth played Brakhage's films at their concerts; some of Bill Morrion's early pieces were made to be used as background in theater pieces...), but do you mean just using those pieces like some bars do screening Hollywood films in the back wall?
Thanks, Michael. Those are very interesting subjects. I usually refrain from being the first to answer, but I can't resist adding my 2c here.,,
1) Yes, Sitney's nomeclature was inadequate from the start, since it is very limited and leaves out many types of filmmaking. But it's funny that you have left Structural Films out :-) Also Materialist Films (according to Gidal's classification). Then there is a certain kind of 'avant-garde fiction' for lack of a better term, which I've always considered to be on the line.
2) That is an endemic problem of Academia, and not only related to A-G. This reminds me of someone saying (I cannot remember right now who) that real experimental film ended when filmmakers started having teaching postiions. The problem with teaching, Academia... is that they create the concept of canon, set what's 'right' or 'wrong'. In many ways this may have hurt the form but, for example, until very recently the main clients of the archives and cooperatives were the universities where there was a space for this medium to be shown and taught.
3) When you mention background music, I instantly think of elevator music,.. :-) A-G films have been used as 'background' (Sonic Youth played Brakhage's films at their concerts; some of Bill Morrion's early pieces were made to be used as background in theater pieces...), but do you mean just using those pieces like some bars do screening Hollywood films in the back wall?