"In the last few years, 29-year-old Matt McCormick of Portland, Oregon, has emerged as one of our strongest independent filmmakers, doing work that's both ingenuous and humorously absrud. His latest, Going to the Ocean (2001), is as simple as a haiku: it begins with a long take of ships gliding though an urban waterway at night while superimposed highway lights sail by, creating a strangely menacing mood; then it cuts to old home-movie footage of adults playing in the surf. Both elements literalize the title, though one deals with idustry and the other with nature, contasted in a way that transcends irony. The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal (2001) is at once a delightful parody of overheated art-history hermeneutics and an authentic plea for the appreciation of disregarded urban patterns. A dead-serious voice-over praises the rectangular and other patterns left by city employees who remove graffiti as an "unconscious and collaborative" art. Patterns on walls, train cars, and shipping containers are compared to paintings by Rothko and Malevich and cataloged as "symmetrical," "radical," and "ghosting," in style. Sincerely, Joe P. Bear (1999) usues hilarious old found footage of someone in a polar bear suit cavorting with a pretty female model who's seated on a block of ice. In a distorted voice over by McCormick, the bear expresses his love for the model in sentiments both ridiculous and achingly believable." - Fred Camper The Chicago Reader
Matt McCormick's website: www.rodeofilmco.com
it is no coincidence that funding for "anti-graffiti" campaigns often outweighs funding for the arts. graffiti removal has subverted the common obstacles blocking creative expression and become one of the more intriguing and important art movements of our time. emerging from the human psyche and showing characteristics of abstract expressionism, minimalism and russian constructivism, graffiti removal has secured its place in the history of modern art while being created by artists who are unconscious of their artistic achievments.
awards and screening history: the sundance film festival 2002; san francisco int. film festival 2002, golden gate / new visions award for best experimental; the ann arbor film festival 2002, empa work life award; the black maria film festival 2002, first prize award winner; the new york video festival at the lincoln center 2001; media city film festival 2001, grand prize / best of festival; cinematexas film festival 2001, audience choice award; south x southwest film festival 2002.
2001, 16mm, color/so, 17m, $60
a textured mood swing and a trip to the beach. what does it mean to be sea worthy? answers questioned in a slow-motion memory lapse. night-vision video (transferred to film) and found kodachrome. improvised noise soundtrack: trains/static/melodian.
screening history: the new york film festival "views from the avant garde", lincoln center 2001; the ann arbor film festival 2002
2001, 16mm, b&w/color/so, 9m, $30
the vyrotonin decision is a post modern disaster epic featuring thirty-six appropriated television commercials from 1971. using a hole punch, junk store splicer, and lots of tape and glue, the vyrotonin decision is a hand-made film constructed from the images and sounds of dumpster-rescued television studio discards from the days before video replaced 16mm production. the vyrotonin decision mocks the formula of current hollywood blockbusters while re-inventing some of televisions most embarrassing moments.
awards and screening history: the new york underground film fest 2000, winner best experimental film; the ann arbor film festival 2000, selected for 'best-of' touring program; the chicago underground film fest 2000, winner best experimental film; seattle underground film fest 2000, winner best experimental film
1999, 16mm, color/so, 8m, $30
synopsis: polar bears, ice queens, lost love... appropriated news clips from the 1960s combine with hand-painted film to tackle the momentous issue of how polar bears cope with heartbreak and rejection.
awards and screening history: rotterdam international film fest, january 2001; images festival, toronto, april 2001; cinematexas, austin, october 2000, honorable mention; microcinefest, baltimore, best experimental film; sarah lawrence film fest, new york, march 2000, best short
1999, 16mm, color/so, 5m, $25