Art and Film Friday; Vol. 13 - Punch Drunk Love

Still from Punch Drunk Love - more here.
Ross Bleckner, Hands and Faces, 1994, Oil on Linen, 96x120"

Still from Punch Drunk Love
Dan Flavin, The Diagonal of May 25, 1963, 1963, blue fluorescent light

Still from Punch Drunk Love - by Jeremy Blake
Gene Davis, Royal Canoe, 1977, Screenprint
Paper Size: 37 1/2 x 43 inches, Edition of 100
Published by Pace Editions, Inc

Still from Punch Drunk Love

Brice Marden, "Grove IV". 1976, Oil and Wax on Canvas, two panels, 72x108" overall
Still from Punch Drunk Love
Edvard Munch, Kiss by the Window, 1892

Still from Punch Drunk Love
Brice Marden

Jeremy Blake films at Ubuweb

"Liquid Villa", 2000



"Guccinam", 2000

Jeremy Blake, Century 21, 2004

These films are available to watch or download at Ubuweb. I played "Century 21" on my tv when we had friends over the other day and it instantly turned the monitor into a colorful morphing painting. It was a nice way to transform a black rectangular box into something aesthetically pleasing but not as distracting as something with sound or a narrative. I've mentioned Blake's work previously - they are rewarding and beautiful films (including parts of Punch Drunk Love and Beck's Round the Bend video). Ubuweb describes "Guccinam" as being, "Like a slow-burn acid trip, Blake's kaleidoscopic morphings are gorgeous and mesmerizing - digital wallpaper at its best."

Jeremy Blake's video for "Round the Bend"

One of my personal favorite video artists is the late Jeremy Blake. I've posted about him before. Every time I listen to Beck's Sea Changes album or watch Punch Drunk Love, I'm reminded of his work again. I'm going to briefly touch on video art in my art appreciation class this week and I decided to break down one of Blake's videos and examine all of the references or similarities to painting. Some of these were more obvious than others...

Still from Jeremy Blake's video for Beck's song "Round the Bend"

Barnett Newman

Still from Jeremy Blake's video for Beck's song "Round the Bend"

Andy Warhol

Still from Jeremy Blake's video for Beck's song "Round the Bend"

Helen Frankenthaler

Still from Jeremy Blake's video for Beck's song "Round the Bend"

Morris Lewis

Still from Jeremy Blake's video for Beck's song "Round the Bend"

Morris Lewis

In memory of Jeremy Blake

Beck's "Round the Bend" video with art by Jeremy Blake



from "Punch Drunk Love" color wash scenes by Jeremy Blake



Excerpt from "1906" by Jeremy Blake

From the September Issue of Art in America:

"Jeremy Blake, 35, video artist, is believed to have taken his own life by drowning at a beach in the Rockaways in New York on July 17. A New York police department spokesperson said that his body was found 4 1/2 miles away in the waters off Sea Girt, N.J., on July 22. Blake's death followed the suicide on July 10 of his girlfriend of 12 years, filmmaker Theresa Duncan. The final entry on her blog, The Wit of the Staircase (theresalduncan.typepad.com), was posted the day of her death. The artist was thought to be devastated by Duncan's death. His clothes, wallet and a note referring to Duncan's suicide were found on the beach on July 17, and witnesses reported seeing him walk into the water.

The couple was described by friends as extremely close. In February they returned to New York from Los Angeles, where they had moved about five years earlier. They had collaborated, with Karen Kilimnik, on the 1999 animated film The History of Glamour, which was written and directed by Duncan. Blake also created sequences for the 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love, and at the time of his death was working with Rockstar Games as an in-house designer."

I know I'm not the first to report this, but his absence is a real loss to film and art. I've always loved those color washes in Punch Drunk Love, and the beauty of the music videos for Beck's "Sea change" album.