A presentation on the preservation of artist Paul Sharits' film installation work. A look into the future of film archiving and its relationship to the issues in time base media conservation.

1. Paul Sharits’ SHUTTER INTERFACE
Andrew Lampert - Archivist
John Passmore - Project Archivist
Anthology Film Archives

2. Paul Sharits Collection at Anthology Film Archives, NYC SHUTTER INTERFACE installation view
Greene Naftali Gallery, NYC
2009

3. 1943 - Born in Denver, Colorado
1962 - Founded Denver Experimental Film Society
1964 - BFA in Painting, University of Denver
1966 - MFA in Visual Design, Indiana University
1967 - 1970 - Professor of Film and Photography, Maryland Institute of Art
1968 - Founded Personal Cinema Group, Maryland Institute of Art
1970 - Developed undergraduate film program for art department at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio
1970 - 1973 - Professor of Film Studies, Production, and History, Antioch College
1973 - 1993 - Professor of Film, Department of Media Studies, SUNY at Buffalo
1993 - Died, Buffalo NY.

10. Locational Films/Installations
• I Specchi (1971, color, triphonic sound, 3-screen slide projection)
• Sound Strip/Film Strip (1971, color, quadraphonic sound, 4-screen projection)
• Damaged Film Loop (1973-1974, color, quadraphonic sound)
• Synchronousoundtracks (1973-1974, 32 min 30 sec, for two screens or three screens)
• Shutter Interface (1975, 32 min 30 sec, 4-screens or 2-screen)
• Epileptic Seizure Comparison (1976, 34 min, color, sound, 2-screen and single screen)
• Dream Displacement (1976, 25 min, color, sound, 4-screen projection)
• Episodic Generation (1978, color, sound, 30 min, 4-screen projection)
• 3rd Degree (1982, color, sound, 24 min, 3-screen projection)
Single Screen Films
• Wintercourse (1962, l2 min, silent)
• Razor Blades (1965-1968, b/w & color, sound, 2-screen, 25 min)
• Piece Mandala/End War (1966, color, silent, 5 min)
• Word Movie (Fluxfilm 29) aka Wrote Movie (1966, color, sound, 4 min)
• Sears Catalogue (Fluxfilm 26) (1966, 30 sec, b/w, silent)
• Dots 1 & 2 (Fluxfilm 27) (1966, 30 sec, b/w, silent)
• Wrist Trick (Fluxfilm 28) (1966, 30 sec, b/w, silent)
• Unrolling Event (Fluxfilm) (1966, 5 sec, b/w, silent)
• Ray Gun Virus (1966, color, sound, l4 min)
• T, O, U, C, H, I, N, G, (1968, 12 min, color, sound)
• N:O:T:H:I:N:G. (1968, color, sound, 36 min)
• S:TREAM:S:S:ECTION:S:ECTION:S:S:ECTIONED (1968-1971, 42 min, color, sound)
• Inferential Current (1971, color, sound, 8 min)
• Analytical Studies II: Un-Frame-Lines (1971-76, color, silent, 30 min)
• Analytical Studies I: The Film Frame (1971-76, color, silent, 25 min)
• Axiomatic Granularity (1972-3, 20 min, color, sound)
• Analytical Studies III: Color Frame Passages (1973-4, 22 min, color, sound)
• Color Sound Frames (1974, color, sound, 26 min 30 sec)
• Vertical Contiguity (1974, color, sound, 15 min)
• Apparent Motion (1975, color, silent, 30 min)
• Analytical Studies IV: Blank Color Frames (1975-76, 15 min, color, silent)
• Tails (1976, color, silent, 3 min)
• Declarative Mode (1976-77, color, silent, 2 screen or one-screen, 24fps or
18fps)
• Tirgu Jiu (1977, color, silent, 2-screen projection, 10min)
• Brancusi's Sculpture Ensemble at Tirgu Jiu (1977-84, color, silent, 23 min) •
Figment I: Fluxglam Voyage in Search of the Real Maciunas (1977-1986, 175
min, color, sound, Super8mm transferred to video)
• Sketches in Hawaii (1981, 9 min, color, silent, 2 screen projection)
• Bad Burns (1982, color, silent, 5 min)
• Rapture (1987, color, silent, 20 min, 3/4" videotape)

11. N : O : T : H : I : N : G
(1968)
T , O , U , C , H , I , N , G
(1968)
S : TREAM : S : S : ECTION : S : ECTION : S : S : ECTIONED
(1968-71)

12. EPILEPTIC SEIZURE COMPARISON
(1976)

13. Anthology Film Archives, NY, NY

15. Screenshots of
Paul Sharits Database

16. SHUTTER INTERFACE
Preservation Workflow
Color original
master
16mm color reversal
B&W optical
negative
soundtrack
Duplicate of original
magnetic
soundtrack
Original magnetic
soundtrack
Preservation
Internegativ
e
Printing
Internegativ
e
Printing
Optical
Track
Preservation
Magnetic
Soundtrack
Composite
Answer Print
Approved
Exhibition
Print
Preservation
Elements
Original
Elements
Release Elements
Uncompresse
d
.wav
Soundtrack
Preservation
Optical
Track
Composite
Answer Print

17. Paul Sharits papers, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY

22. SHUTTER INTERFACE Exhibition History
1975 - Artpark, Buffalo, NY
1976 - Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1978 - Droll/Kolbert Gallery, NYC
2001 - Whitney Museum, NYC (2-screen
32 minute loop)
2009 - Greene Naftali Gallery, NYC
Artpark Buffalo, NY 1976 - Photo courtesy of Albright-Know Gallery Buffalo, NY
Whitney Museum 2001 -http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/into_the_light/

23. Paul Sharits papers, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY

24. Paul Sharits papers, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY

25. • WNED Buffalo
• Filmmakers/Sharits episode 12
• circa 1976

26. Documenting
SHUTTER INTFERFACE

27. Documenting
Shutter
Interface

28. * 16mm film will eventually be discontinued or else will become an expensive
niche format. Quality control in terms of processing and printing will become an
increasing problem as labs continue to shift gears or go out of business.
* 16mm projectors, lenses and technical gear will continue to become difficult to
acquire. Ebay will continue to be the primary source for purchasing such
equipment. How reliable is this? The format is rapidly becoming obsolete
except for in the art/museum context.
* What is acceptable amount of change in a possibly filmless future? Who is to
determine the amount of change allowable for exhibition purposes?
* Aesthetically speaking, can SHUTTER INTERFACE be a digital work?
Future Without
Film?