Bruce Conner, Beat Artist and Avant-Garde Filmmaker, Dies at 74
JULY 9, 2008 TAGS:
San Francisco-based artist of the beat generation Bruce Conner died on July 7. He was 74. Known for his sculptures that grouped everyday objects in cacophonous combinations, Conner’s work of the 1950s was emblematic of the societal criticism – of the material, of the consumerist – embodied in Beat poetry and fiction. His films, often short assemblages of stock footage, were equally influential to avant-garde film making and were influenced by his relationship with musicians like David Byrne and Brian Eno and with the avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brackage.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s obit, Conner was a bit of trickster about his death.
“Mr. Conner announced his own death erroneously on two occasions, once sending an obituary to a national art magazine, and later writing a self-description for the biographical encyclopedia Who Was Who in America.”
Read Adam Bernstein's excellent obit in the Washington Post.
UPDATE:
The San Francisco Chronicle published an appreciation for Conner on July 11th, claiming that,
"Conner chafed against people's - including critics' - habit of assuming a "one to one correspondence" between an artist's thinking and his work. He preferred to "think of the artist on the model of a writer, a playwright or an actor, someone who works with narrative, irony and changing voices."
The New York TImes film critic Manohla Dargis commented upon Conner's films connecting his tendency towards collage in sculpture with his use of montage and sotck footage:
"In his hands film became an extension of assemblage and, arguably, an elaboration. Where once he used physical detritus like scraps of lace and junk to make art, he now used old Hollywood movies, newsreels and stock footage."
Here is the short film, "America is Waiting," produced with David Byrne and Brian Eno in 1982.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s obit, Conner was a bit of trickster about his death.
“Mr. Conner announced his own death erroneously on two occasions, once sending an obituary to a national art magazine, and later writing a self-description for the biographical encyclopedia Who Was Who in America.”
Read Adam Bernstein's excellent obit in the Washington Post.
UPDATE:
The San Francisco Chronicle published an appreciation for Conner on July 11th, claiming that,
"Conner chafed against people's - including critics' - habit of assuming a "one to one correspondence" between an artist's thinking and his work. He preferred to "think of the artist on the model of a writer, a playwright or an actor, someone who works with narrative, irony and changing voices."
The New York TImes film critic Manohla Dargis commented upon Conner's films connecting his tendency towards collage in sculpture with his use of montage and sotck footage:
"In his hands film became an extension of assemblage and, arguably, an elaboration. Where once he used physical detritus like scraps of lace and junk to make art, he now used old Hollywood movies, newsreels and stock footage."
Here is the short film, "America is Waiting," produced with David Byrne and Brian Eno in 1982.
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