Joseph Cornell was a cinephile, film collector, filmmaker and pioneering American assemblage artist. He called his work ‘white magic’ to distinguish it from the darker arts of the surrealists with whom he had a dialogue. From the late 30s onward he reworked Hollywood movies, travelogues and education films to create touching, sophisticated edits and juxtapositions. The first programme includes Rose Hobart which Dali accused Cornell of stealing from his dreams, and the newly rediscovered The Wool Collage. The second programme shows collaborations with other experimental filmmakers such as Stan Brakhage and Larry Jordan. Gnir Rednow and other titles here draw on material shot by Cornell’s collaborators which he then edited and reworked according to his particular aesthetic.
Programme 1 (18:10h) Intro by Sarah Lea, curator at the Royal Academy of Arts
- The Wool Collage (Joseph Cornell, 1940–55, 23 min) Preserved by The Museum of Modern Art with support from the National Endowment for the Art’s Heritage Grant and the Celeste Bartos Fund for Film Preservation.
- Rose Hobart (1936, 19 min)
- Cotillion (1938, 8 min)
- Midnight Party (1938, 4 min)
- The Children’s Party (1938, 8 min)
- By Night With Torch And Spear (1942, 8 min)
Programme 2 (20:30h) Intro by curator William Fowler
- Centuries of June (Stan Brakhage & Joseph Cornell, 1955, 14 min)
- Gnir Rednow (Stan Brakhage & Joseph Cornell, 1960, 6 min)
- The Aviary / Nymphlight / A Fable for Fountains (Joseph Cornell & Rudy Burckhardt, 1955-57, 19 min)
- Joanne, Union Square (Joseph Cornell & Rudy Burckhardt, 1955, 8 min)
- What Mozart Saw on Mulberry Street (Rudy Burckhardt, 1956, 6 min)
- Angel (Joseph Cornell & Rudy Burckhardt, 1957, 3 min)
- Flushing Meadows (Joseph Cornell & Larry Jordan, 1965, 9 min) Preserved by The Museum of Modern Art with support from the National Endowment for the Art’s Heritage Grant and the Celeste Bartos Fund for Film Preservation.
- Cornell, 1965 (Larry Jordan, 1978, 9 min)
These screenings coincide with the Royal Academy exhibition, Joseph Cornell: Wanderlust.
