Silkscreens(1978)

Overview

"SILKSCREENS follows the choreography of printmakers at work, pulling the edition of Jasper Johns' print, THE DUTCH WIVES. It was filmed at Simca Print Artists in New York. I got the notion of repetitive labor as a form of dance from the French painter, Edgar Degas. No doubt, I was also influenced by minimalism with its impetus to integrate normal, workaday movements into fine art. For the sound track, I worked with the musician, Richard Teitelbaum (who in turn had worked with John Cage). We used ambient sounds from the print shop and the street outside to reflect the kind of hearing that you experience as you work, when sounds float in and out of consciousness. The artist, Jasper Johns, does not appear in this film. My next film, HANAFUDA, focused on Johns at work with the printers at Simca." -Katy Martin.