Our attention spans have significantly decreased in the past 50 years, evident in Michael Snow’s groundbreaking film “Wavelength” (1967). Considered a masterpiece of experimental cinema, this rigorous 45-minute film challenges viewers with its slow-paced narrative. However, Snow himself acknowledged the modern dilemma of time constraints and created a shortened version titled “WVLNT: WAVELENGTH for Those Who Don’t Have the Time: Originally 45 Minutes, Now 15!” This adaptation not only catered to those who preferred digital accelerated viewing but also served as a new artistic creation by layering 15-minute segments of the original film.
The exhibition “Michael Snow: A Life Survey (1955-2020)” at The School in Kinderhook, N.Y., showcases not only “Wavelength” and “WVLNT” but approximately 80 works that span Snow’s career. This comprehensive exhibition highlights his versatility across various mediums such as painting, sculpture, installations, and music. Snow’s fascination lies in exploring how we perceive reality through art, language, and technology, and the exhibition delves into these complex connections.
Snow’s early abstract paintings from the 1950s and ’60s, while reminiscent of artists like Klee, Johns, and Kline, hint at his curiosity about image construction. His drawings and canvases divided into grids and boxes resemble filmstrips or storyboards, indicating a budding interest in visual composition.
In 1963, Snow achieved his first major breakthrough with the creation of the Walking Woman, a cutout silhouette that became his signature motif. Although a similar project using the female body as a formal device might receive criticism today, Snow’s Walking Woman reflects the shifting portrayal of women in mass media and popular culture during that era. Influenced by artists like Warhol, Lichtenstein, de Kooning, and Johnson, as well as animated television shows of the time, Snow’s Walking Woman holds a reflection of these changing representations.
Noteworthy among Snow’s later works is the film “Little Walk” (1964-2005), where he matured artistically. Here, he masterfully employs the Walking Woman silhouette to explore contrasts such as positive/negative, figure/ground, and surface/frame, all foundational elements of structuralist film, a category in which Snow is regarded.
As Snow progressed, he shifted his focus to exploring the technical aspects of different media. In “One Two Three” (2002), he uses cut-up black-and-white photographs of a tree to create a stuttering visual effect, reminiscent of a filmstrip presented in still photography. “Handed to Eyes” (1983) transforms a chromogenic photograph into a Cézannesque still life through the application of oil paint. In the intriguing “Flash! 20:49 15/6/2001” (2001), Snow captures a chaotic dining table scene, but all the toppling effects are physically acted out by performers rather than digitally manipulated.
In Snow’s film and video works, time takes on a more potent role. His film “Wavelength” (1967), often referred to as a “time monument,” is shown in its original 16-millimeter celluloid form. It features a fixed camera slowly zooming into a photograph of the sea affixed to a loft wall in downtown Manhattan, eventually engulfing it. The room in the film has windows resembling filmstrips, and the moving images are accompanied by a rising tone produced by a sine wave generator. While action occurs in the film, such as the appearance of The Beatles on the radio and the death of a character, the true focus of “Wavelength” lies in its exploration of film itself – how sound, light, and time converge within the technical medium.
Reflecting on his film, Snow once wrote, “I wanted to make a summation of my nervous system,” emphasizing the cosmic equivalence of everything within “Wavelength.” In our current era of disrupted nervous systems, the film offers a contemplative and meditative experience rather than a mere endurance test. Although achieving measured precision may be elusive in everyday life, Snow’s film remains structurally and cosmically sound.
“Michael Snow: A Life Survey (1955-2020)” at The School (Jack Shainman Gallery) in Kinderhook, N.Y., runs until December 16 and presents a captivating retrospective of Snow’s work. To experience Snow’s artistic journey across mediums and delve into the profound connections between art, perception, and technology, this exhibition offers a thought-provoking and enlightening experience.
Please visit jackshainman.com for more information on the exhibition.
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