Selected Works: Reel 6

Selected Works: Reel 6

William Wegman
1975-76, 19:38 min, b&w and color, sound

Description

Reel 6 includes vignettes featuring Man Ray, as well as those that focus on Wegman's deadpan monologues. Wegman also uses appropriated material, such as television soundtracks and New Yorker cartoons, as comedic elements. The irony lies in the gap between what is seen and what is heard, expectation and projection. Man Ray's obedience is exploited in a series of comic manipulations: Wegman adjusts and readjusts the position of the dog's leg with a string; Man Ray and another dog avidly follow an off-screen object in hilarious unison; for an extended duration, Man Ray catches a ball and drops it repeatedly, until the ball finally plops into a can. A close-up of the sleeping Man Ray recalls Wegman's lovingly rendered Polaroid portraits of the photogenic dog. Wegman also parodies audio and video "special effects," demonstrating an absurd "sound mix" and color effects in deadpan satires of futuristic technologies.

Reel 6 includes the following pieces: Ball and Can; The Reel; Eyes of Ray; Dog Duet; Stereo System; Tube Talk; Video; Joke; Furniture; Moby Dick; Cord Walk

Produced by the WGBH New Television Workshop. Production Coordinator: Dorothy Chiesa. Electronic Editors: David Crane, John McKnight.