Barry Gerson (1929-)

The Neon Rose (1960-64), 41 minutes

Automatic Free Form Film (1968), 20 minutes

Evolving (1969), 17 minutes

Group I: Grass/Ice/Snow/Vibration (1969), 16 minutes

Group II: Water/Contemplating (1969), 16 minutes

Generations (1969), 4 minutes

Group III: Sunlight/Floating/Afternoon (1970), 23.5 minutes

Group IV: Beaded Light/Dissolving/Beyond (1970), 12.25 minutes

Group V: Endurance/Rememberance/Metamorphosis (1970/79), 12 minutes

Movements (1971), 4 minutes

Group VI: Converging Lines/Assimilation (1971), 18 minutes

Group VII: Portrait of Diana/Portrait of Andrew Noren (1970-72), 9 minutes

Shadow Space (1973), 6 minutes

Inversion (1973), 16 minutes

Luminous Zone (1973), 28 minutes

Translucent (1975), 22 minutes

Celluloid Illuminations (1975), 30.5 minutes

The Secret Abyss (1979), 12.5 minutes

Group VIII: Hidden Tracings/Exposed Fragrances (1980), 10 minutes

Episodes from the Secret Life (1982), 29.5 minutes

About Barry Gerson's Films

Endurance/Remembrance/Metamorphosis

Endurance (1979): "...a section of a dark room is framed so that a reflection of a window with a curtain blowing is balanced by the curtain which moves on and off screen...Endurance establishes a balance of forces by spatially separating the reflection from the curtain, balancing them by repeating the undulating rhythm in counterpoint..."

— Ellen Feldman, "A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema" catalogue, A.F.A. traveling exhibition.

Rememberance (1970): "...Reflections of the interior space appear on the window which mediates the camera's view of the exterior, and the frequent readustments of camera position call attention to the frames of the window and the image...The act of imitation does not occur on the level of movement, but on that of frame: the frame of the window mimics the frame of the image."— Ellen Feldman, ibid.

Metamorphosis (1970): "...examines a cluster of plants by shifting focus so that the image is in constant flux. Layers materialize and vanish very gradually. Perspectival foreground/depth relationships are abandoned for the perpetual reconstruction of a surface. The camera moves frequently, but its movements never reveal the scene's spatial coordinates or clarify the suggestion of a frame on the left edge of the screen...The focusing apparatus is totally hidden within the body of the camera, but it enforces its way of seeing with such force that the objects recorded are radically diminished in terms of their reference to the phenomenol world."

—Ellen Feldman, ibid.

"The controlled flux and framings in Converging Lines and of focus in Metamorphosis are particularly beautiful gems. All his films contain his ecstatic response to qualities of natural light as the revealer of his film (artifical light) imagery."—Michael Snow.

Shadow Space: "Plant and window frame shadows are animated through the use of single framing in conjunction with precisely planned camera movements—giving the illusion of movement. Objects turn around—shadows move—sunlight mixes with polished wood grain. A confined space, alive and teeming with energy—shapes merge forming new shapes. Red curtains blow violently—stark light reflections appear and disappear." (BG)