X-tracts (1975)
By Leslie Thorton
DURATION: 9 minutes (B&W, sound) X-TRACTS, Thornton's first film, explores language and technology by mixing structuralist strategies inherited from her mentors (including Hollis Frampton, Peter Kubelka, and Sharits) with a more personal style of filmmaking rooted in narrative and its abstraction. Until X-TRACTS, Thornton had worked primarily in painting, and she described the work's intention as "primitive": She aimed to replicate painterly gestures by cutting together incomprehensible pulses of sound and image. RESOURCES: These videos are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to Leslie Thornton. Used with permission of Leslie Thornton.
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