From: Bill Brand (email suppressed)
Date: Tue Jan 12 2010 - 10:42:32 PST
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We are writing to ask if you have a JK optical
printer - or parts for a JK optical printer -
that you would be willing to donate to an
artist's collective in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Fundación de Arte Contemporáneo (FAC) is an
artist run collective in the port area of
Montevideo. They provide artist studios for
artists in all media, host symposia and
screenings and contribute mightily to the
cultural life of this vibrant and wonderful South
American city. Thanks to Guillermo Zabaleta, one
of the founding members, they also are heavily
involved in experimental film production. But
their equipment is EXTREMELY limited. They own a
Bolex as well as their own hand processing tanks
and an ancient 16mm contact printer. Many of the
workshop films they have made have been created
completely in house: shooting, processing,
positive printing and video editing.
Last summer, at different times, Mark Street,
Lynne Sachs, Bill Brand, Katy Martin and Barbara
Hammer taught workshops and screened work at the
FAC and were heartened to see the excitement that
this organization generates. Young and old
cluster around the limited resources at FAC, to
work with film, critique, and discuss how moving
images function in the contemporary aesthetic
landscape. It is wonderful to see such a spirited
embrace of the material of film in such an
unexpected locale.
While the FAC is teeming with desire and spirit,
their resources are limited. There is great
interest in working in celluloid with hand made
films, archival films and home movies. A JK
printer would allow them to follow through with
many of the ideas they are eager to explore.
Needless to say they are tinkerers, and will make
good use of whatever is donated. It is hard to
overestimate the lack of resources in Uruguay for
filmmaking and the great impact even the most
modest influx of equipment could have. An
optical printer would be a tremendous boost to
their efforts. Mark will be returning in the
summer of 2010 so he can carry it. If you have
one to donate - whether it is in reasonable shape
or you only have parts for one that need to be
cobbled together, please let us know.
Please do not hesitate to contact either of us if
you have any questions about this.
Best,
Mark Street
email suppressed
www.markstreetfilms.com
and
Bill Brand
email suppressed
www.bboptics.com
P.S. Below please find a Youtube link to a
documentary film on a workshop Mark Street and
Lynne Sachs taught at FAC last summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3w5QSNPv1U
-- Bill Brand 108 Franklin Street #4W New York, NY 10013 (212) 966-6253 http://www.bboptics.com __________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.