Long Play
Bruce Conner and the Singles Collection
Bruce Conner, BREAKAWAY (film still), 1966; 16mm film, black-and-white, sound, 5 min.; Collection SFMOMA, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Conner Family Trust; image: courtesy Conner Family Trust
Bruce Conner, THREE SCREEN RAY (composite), 2006; three-channel black-and-white video projection with sound, 5:14 min.; Collection SFMOMA, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Conner Family Trust; image: courtesy Conner Family Trust
Klaus vom Bruch, Das Propellerband (Propeller Tape) (still), 1979; single-channel video with sound, 31:57 min.; Collection SFMOMA, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Klaus vom Bruch
Dara Birnbaum, Kojak/Wang from Pop-Pop Video (still), 1980; single-channel video with sound, 2:48 min.; Collection SFMOMA, Camille W. and William S. Broadbent Fund; © Dara Birnbaum
Christian Marclay, Telephones (still), 1995; single-channel video with sound, 7:30 min.; Collection SFMOMA, Camille W. and William S. Broadbent Fund; © Christian Marclay
Tony Cokes, 1! (still), 2004; single-channel video with sound, 24:19 min., Collection SFMOMA, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Tony Cokes
January 16 - May 23, 2010
In Bruce Conner's electric THREE SCREEN RAY (2006), a new acquisition that premieres in this exhibition, Ray Charles's 1959 hit song "What'd I Say" is set to an ecstatic, frenzied collage — nude women, bomb explosions, fireworks — of original and preexisting imagery, including war newsreels, cartoons, and TV commercials. A tour de force of editing and experimental film techniques, the piece features Conner's manipulations of the film surface itself and his signature use of countdown leader. The work's point of departure and central image is Conner's 1961 film COSMIC RAY, which he adapted to three screens in 1965 and later reedited to create this gallery installation of three video projections. A rotating series of "singles," or single-channel video works from the SFMOMA collection, is presented in an adjoining gallery.
Long Play: Bruce Conner and the Singles is presented by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as part of 75 Years of Looking Forward, a series of exhibitions and events organized in celebration of the museum's anniversary.
