Tony Conrad - Shorts

Introduction by Vivian Ostrovsky

Tony Conrad: DreaMinimalist 

Dir.: Marie Losier  

USA 2008 | 27 min. | English | B&W and Color | Stereo | 4:3  

The latest in Marie Losier’s ongoing series of film portraits of avant-garde directors (George and Mike Kuchar, Guy Maddin, Richard Foreman), Tony Conrad: Dreaminmalist offers an insightful and hilarious encounter with Conrad as he sings, dances, and remembers his youth and his association with Jack Smith.  

The Flicker 

Dir.: Tony Conrad 

USA 1966 | 30 min. | B&W | sound | 16 mm  

Conrad claimed his austere film had the power to provoke hallucinations and/or epileptic seizures. Audiences tended to shield their eyes, plug their ears or to be totally transfixed.  

Jonas Mekas considered it to be a living treasure and included it in his series of Essential Films that define the art of cinema. It is undoubtedly a milestone in avant-garde film history.    

Straight and Narrow 

Dir.: Tony Conrad 

USA 1970 | 10 min. | B&W| sound | 16 mm 

Straight and Narrow is a study in subjective color and visual rhythm. This follow-up work to THE FLICKER  is printed on black and white film, and its hypnotic pacing of the images will once more attack viewers’ optic nerve. For the Harvard Film Archive it is an arresting example of structural film.