MOCAtv x Bruce Conner

PRODUCTION

A video series exploring the films of San Francisco–based artist Bruce Conner (1933–2008) set to the music of Ray Charles, Toni Basil, Devo, and Brian Eno and David Byrne, made in conjunction with MOCA Los Angeles and the Conner Family Trust.

THE WORK

The introductory episode features Three Screen Ray (2006), a reimagined and expanded version of Conner’s seminal Cosmic Ray (1961): a literal cinematic slot machine where three reels of images meet, diverge, and meet again. Influenced as much by assemblage as by the kineticism of Abstract Expressionism, Conner cuts together images of sex, war, dancing, and cinema itself before abrading and abusing the reel. The result is an explosive collage and a reflexive comment on the power of film and media.

Beginning with his found-footage masterpiece A Movie, Conner’s films marked a radical intervention into the language of filmmaking. His use of music to structure energetic bricolage made early works like Cosmic Ray and Breakaway important precursors to the modern music video, and earned him the titles “father of found-footage film” and “father of the MTV music video.” Pairing rapid-fire editing with music from R&B, gospel, classical, pop, and punk to minimalist composition, his work continues to shape both mainstream and avant-garde film culture.

EPISODES

Introduction & Three Screen Ray
Breakaway
Mongoloid
Mea Culpa

FULL CREDITS

Executive Producers: Chris Green, Noah Khoshbin, Emma Reeves, John Toba
Editor: Curtis Tamm
Directors of Photography: Curtis Tamm, Peter Kirby, Kaitlin Dixon, Kevin Southworth
Assistant Camera: Eugenia Barbuc, Morgan Kessler
Music Clearances: Colby Trane
Interviews: Toni Basil, Gerald Casale, David James, Bruce Jenkins