Film Catalog: Online Search

Doris Chase

The Chelsea (1993) VHS NTSC, color & b/w, sound, 67 min

Genre: Documentary, Experimental

Keywords: Environment & Nature, History

A video documentary exploring a particular fulcrum between art and society. THE CHELSEA combines music, paintings, passages of literature, interviews, and parties. New York City's Chelsea Hotel is an important traditional and sometimes notorious haven for artists. Conceived as an artists cooperative it has always been a home to creative people... Mark Twain lived here. Dylan Thomas died here. Arthur Miller moved out. Sid killed Nancy. And Arthur C. Clark wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey. Others who lived there throughout history: Sarah Bernhardt, William Burroughs, O. Henry, Thomas Wolfe, Virgil Thomson, Jane Fonda, Bette Davis, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. "It's an experience a bit like peering through uncurtained windows at dusk. Chase puts this personal account together, not of fame or fortunes made or missed in the Chelsea, but of how creative people live together." -- Karen Jaehne

Rental: $50.00

Doris Chase

Circles I (1971) 16mm, color, sound, 6.75 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Art & Artists

Music by Morton Subotnik. "A computer-generated abstract film produced by the world-famous sculptress, with original music by a leading contemporary composer. Circles revolve in, around, and through each other, float off like loosened coils, and evolve into whirling spheres. The pale colors of the circles multiply into brilliant hues against a stark musical accompaniment which evokes the sounds of endlessly bouncing springs." -- The Booklist

Rental: $25.00

Doris Chase

Circles I Variation II (1971) 16mm, color, sound, 6.75 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Art & Artists

Music by George Kleinsinger. "The central image of spiraling, revolving circles is reminiscent of Duchamp's ANEMIC CINEMA and enlists the viewer in a very pleasurable game of distinguishing color and shape." -- Joan Braderman, Art Forum

Rental: $25.00

Doris Chase

Circles II (1972) 16mm, color, sound, 14 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Art & Artists

Music by William O. Smith. Choreography by Mary Stanton. A dance/sculpture film that explores new dimensions in color and space. The film develops like a fugue with dancers moving through themes that are repeated with variation and multiplication.

Rental: $25.00

Doris Chase

Circles II Variation II (1972) 16mm, color, sound, 8 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Art & Artists, Dance

Music by George Kleinsinger. A dance/sculpture film.

Rental: $25.00

Doris Chase

Conversation (1981) 16mm, black and white, sound, 5.75 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Personal / Diary / Journal

Multiple overlapping images combine with still-frames, in digital mode, of a Puerto Rican filmmaker's telephone conversation with the repairman. Written by Lee Breuer and performed by Ruth Maleczeck, both of Mabou Mines. Music by Bob Telson.

Rental: $25.00

Doris Chase

Dance 10 (1977) 16mm, color, sound, 8 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Art & Artists, Dance

A duet of Jonathan Hollander, choreographer-dancer, and a video synthesized image of one of the "Chase Kinetic Sculptures for Dance." The original synthesized image was generated with the assistance of Steve Rutt.

Rental: $30.00

Doris Chase

Dance 11 (1975) 16mm, color, sound, 7.5 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Art & Artists, Dance, Philosophical

Features a duet of sorts between Cynthia Anderson and specially processed images of herself. Similar in technique and intention to DANCE SEVEN, this film is in some ways more lyrical and languorous than the former, emphasizing the overall shaping of the body in dance, rather than isolated movement details such as the virtuoso footwork. Space is transformed into a viscous atmosphere of colored light, which seems to flood and blend in response to movement impulses of the dance. The dance itself has a sustained, weighted quality, contrasting the stable placement of the body against sinuously rhythmic movements of limbs. A mellow sensation of tension is emphasized by the dissonant, muted hues programmed by Chase, while feedback effects multiply, blur and dissolve the image. The sum effect is to induce a meditative mood tinged with a not unpleasant melancholy.

Rental: $25.00

Doris Chase

Dance 3 (1977) 16mm, color, sound, 8.5 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Art & Artists, Dance

Music by George Kleinsinger. Choreographer Kei Takei structured the dance on a theme from "light Part Nine." Production was in cooperation with WNYC-TV, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Rental: $25.00

Doris Chase

Dance 5 (1976) 16mm, color, sound, 5.75 min

Genre: Experimental

Keywords: Art & Artists, Dance

While related in technique and effect to its predecessor DANCE NINE, it serves as more of a summation of Doris Chase's varied involvements with dance and the arts. The artist employs fully the most sophisticated video technology available to manipulate forms, patterns and colors . At the same time, choreographer/dancer Kei Takei has designed her movements to blend with one of Chase's large kinetic sculptures. The delighting opening sequence shows Kei Takei actively exploring the arch-like forms which, through video feedback techniques, take on a rainbow appearance of multi-hued images. The abstracting of images is complemented by superimpositions of medium- and close-ups views of the dancer. As the piece proceeds, the dancer and the structures become increasingly bathed in coagulations of color. Soon the video effects dominate, creating their own kinetic imagery, with the generation of arch patterns replacing the actual sculptural forms as the new pictorial environment for the dancer. The intertwined pace of dance movement and optical patterning accelerates gradually, and by the end of the tape creates a dynamic kaleidoscope of human and abstract forms.

Rental: $25.00