DUCHAMP PGM 2: FOUND FOOTAGE
"Duchamp discovered that instead of creating something entirely new, he could produce art by modifying or recontextualizing objects that already existed. Among his 'found objects' were a bicycle wheel, a snow shovel, and (of course) a urinal. In the aftermath of this Duchampian revolution, filmmakers too began to realize that they didn't need to create ex nihilo. Rather than shooting original footage, they could simply rework footage that already existed. The first filmmaker to appropriate Duchamp's strategy of appropriation was Joseph Cornell, who made the first found footage film, ROSE HOBART, in 1936. (It should come as no surprise that Cornell once said, 'I feel my debt [to Duchamp] is real & great.') Ever since the release of ROSE HOBART, filmmakers have experimented with preexisting footage, often creating films that either directly or indirectly acknowledge Duchamp as the progenitor of this tradition." –Justin Remes Joseph Cornell ROSE HOBART ca. 1936/68, 20 min, 16mm, sound. Preserved by Anthology Film Archives. Gianfranco Baruchello & Alberto Grifi UNCERTAIN VERIFICATION / VERIFICA INCERTA 1964-65, 31 min, 16mm-to-DCP Hollis Frampton THE BIRTH OF MAGELLAN: CADENZA I 1977-80, 5 min, 16mm Phil Solomon THE PASSAGE OF THE BRIDE 1980, 6 min, 16mm, silent Peter Tscherkassky TRAIN AGAIN 2021, 20 min, 35mm-to-DCP