Peter Gidal - Condition of Illusion
1. Peter Gidal - Room Film (Double Take) (1967) 11:38
2. Peter Gidal - Clouds (1969) 09:16
3. Peter Gidal - Focus (1971) 06:51
4. Peter Gidal - Upside Down Feature (1967-1972) 1:02:32
5. Peter Gidal - Epilogue (1978) 08:20
6. Peter Gidal - Guilt (1988) 38:43
7. Peter Gidal - Flare Out (1992) 18:54
8. Peter Gidal - Assumption (1997) 01:33
9. Peter Gidal - No Night No Day (1997) 13:47
10. Peter Gidal - Coda I (2013) 01:45
11. Peter Gidal - Coda II (2013) 01:40
It’s upside down, inside out, negative, reversed — as though Gidal had cranked all the navigational tools of his medium to their absolute zero, and, in so doing, groped his way towards a spot that’s not on any map, some true, magnetic north of cinema itself. The viewer, held in this liminal space, this threshold, is by turns (or simultaneously) mesmerised, disoriented, captivated, frustrated and delighted. And we’re not just talking about cinema here: Upside Down Feature is awash with radios performing Cage-like trawls across their dials; with typewriters; static cameras; even Man Ray’s photos of the dust on Duchamp’s Large Glass. The leitmotif of clocks (their faces, naturally, flipped) is fitting: what we’re ultimately witnessing, perhaps, is a countdown, taking place on the far side of the screen, of all screens; the exhilarating spectacle of not just a medium but media tout court in a state of immanence, of almost-becoming. - Tom McCarthy
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Avec Room Film 73 de Gidal, film qui à l’infini explore une chambre quelconque et d’où toute présence humaine semble absentée, nous sommes renvoyés à d’autres limites, celles du non-visible et de l’illisible. Room Film 73 est un film très important parce qu’il épuise les façons de filmer proscrites voire interdites dans le cinéma classique : le flou, l’obscur, le répétitif, l’insistant, le bougé, le tremblé, le haché... les moyens visuels de travailler l’inidentifiable dans la description forment une vraie expérience des limites : ce qui nous enferme le plus, ce sont nos habitudes perceptives, à ce titre Room Film 73 se constitue en contrechamp général du cinéma. - Nicole Brenez
