The Undercut Reader: Critical Writings on Artists' Film and Video is a collection of writing and visual works drawn from Undercut, the only UK magazine dedicated to artists' film and video from 1980 to 1990, combined with newly-commissioned articles by leading critics in the field. Undercut critically explored the aesthetics and politics of film and video practices within the context of visual arts and independent cinema. While artists' film and video has become one of the most popular and compelling practices today, very little published material is available. This anthology thus provides a much needed context for the debates and practices of film and video in both the independent film sector and the visual arts.

The Undercut Reader explores themes of narrative and representation, feminist perspectives, questions of identity, film form, cultural and gay politics, experimental animation, landscape imagination and aesthetics. It includes writing by, and on, Stuart Hood, Michael O'Pray, Sally Potter, Peter Gidal, Malcolm le Grice, Peter Wollen, Laura Mulvey, Peter Kennard, Valie Export, Mona Hatoum, Patrick Keiller, The Straubs, Richard Long, John Hilliard, David Curtis, Christine Delphy, Isaac Julien, Ian Christie, Jacqueline Rose, Susan Hiller, Derek Jarman, Stan Brakhage and Cerith Wyn Evans.

2003
224 pages
978-1-903364-47-5    £19.99 (pbk)


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chapter sample
Introduction


reviews
‘Excellent … a vital addition to the literature on the second, and perhaps most creative, wave of artists' film in the UK.’
Catherine Elwes, University of the Arts London

‘Artists on filmmakers, filmmakers on artists, writers and critics on both … They say that "If you can remember it, you weren’t there". Well, Undercut most definitely was there during a decade which saw key developments in the technology and fabric of the moving image landscape, and this wide-ranging, ambitious collection reminds us how significant an observer-participant it was. Read back to read on.’
Gareth Evans, Vertigo

'Rich and stimulating anthology … Here one finds all the important names: Brakhage, Viola, Gidal, Beban, Wollen, Finch. Articles and reviews are supplemented by introductions and numerous photographs. The material is sorted into categories such as "avant-garde theory", "experimental animation" and "independent cinema", and there are also texts on individual artists. The final section is devoted to video art, which makes the anthology even more useful.'
Lars Gustaf Andersson, Lund Univeristy, Film International

‘For the past two years, film and video artists (Isaac Julien and Catherine Yass) have been amongst the nominees for the most important British art prize, the Turner Prize. Even though artists’ film and video practices are popular today and have gained acceptance in art circles, their work has still received little sustained critical attention, except for that one journal called Undercut, which was founded by the London Film-Makers’ Co-operative. Its publications covered nearly a decade from 1981–90, and an impressive selection of them have been complied into the anthology The Undercut Reader: Critical Writings on Artists’ Film and Video … Following the journal’s aim of being an artistic leader, the book is edited by two internationally well-known artists and contributors to the journal, namely the filmmaker Nina Danino, and Michael Mazière, whose work spans from film, video and photography to installation. Danino and Mazière have assembled major contributions to the journal into eight chapters that deal with avant-garde theory, cultural identities, experimental animation, independent cinema and video art. The Reader successfully combines the range of works presented in the journal. These include "theoretical pieces, critical appraisals of new films and video artists, interviews with filmmakers and artists, polemics and critical perspectives, artists’ film and video and photo-pieces especially made by artists for the magazine". In addition it offers five newly-commissioned essays that reflect on Undercut’s critical engagement, also relating it to further developments on film and video practice. There’s also a full index of back issues … Some of the great achievements of Undercut were the collaborations between and contributions of both artists and theorists. In contrast to other journals, where both were positioned on oppositional ends, this boundary is overcome by Undercut. This is reflected in the anthology which unites artists and theorists who write alongside each other, creating a space where the two meet and interchange. The anthology represents not only a rich variety of perspectives and topics but also draws artists and theorists closely together, showing that their relationship is not oppositional, but communal … The writings are illustrated with a wonderful collection of film stills and photographs, such as "Documentation in Sand" by Nick Collins … This anthology is a dazzling collection of writing on avant-garde visual art. It reflects the range and diversity of artists and theorists represented in Undercut during its heyday in the 1980s. Even though it specifically addresses artists’ film and video it manages to be relevant and educative, through its range of reference and its diversity, to everybody interested in art and cultural practice and theory.’
Popmatters


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Light Readings: Film Criticism and Screen Arts
Two Films by Owen Land
Subjects and Sequences: A Margaret Tait Reader