Maya Deren's Sink

placeholder

MAYA DEREN'S SINK explores Deren's concepts of space, time and form through visits and projections filmed in her LA and NY homes. Light projections in Deren's intimate space evoke a former time and space providing entree into the homes of an influential filmmaker we will never know. The film reclaims the spaces that inspired her work in order to share it with audiences. Time and space are collapsed as film locations of the 40’s are re-imagined in the present.
Performances by an actor based on Deren’s film and writing as well as overlooked biographical insights reveal a creative personality untouched by convention. Voices from the past speaking from doorways, windows and picture frames include the current L.A. and N.Y.C. home owners, Teiji Ito’s second wife, Judith Malvina, Carolee Schneemann, Ross Lipmann and others.  Through collapsing time and extending space, a unique architectural portrait of the artist is created.
The experimental soundtrack is compiled and augmented by the music of Teiji Ito (Maya's third husband) and Tavia Ito, Teiji's daughter.
>>> watch trailer on vimeo.com

details

  • Runtime

    30 min
  • Country

    United States
  • Year of Presentation

    2011
  • Year of Production

    2010
  • Director

    Barbara Hammer
  • Cast

  • Production Company

    Barbara Hammer
  • Berlinale Section

    Forum
  • Berlinale Category

    Short Film
  • Teddy Award Winner

    Best Short Film

Biography Barbara Hammer


Barbara Hammer was born on May 15, 1939 in Hollywood, California. She is a visual artist working primarily in lm and video and has made over 80 works in a career that spans 30 years. She is considered a pioneer of queer cinema. Her experimental lms of the 1970s often dealt with taboo subjects such as menstruation, female orgasm and lesbian sexuality. In the ’80s she used optical printing to explore perception and the fragility of 16mm lm life itself. Optic Nerve (1985) and Endangered (1988) were selected for the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennials (’85, ’89), Nitrate Kisses (1992) for the 1993 Whitney Biennial. Her documentaries tell the stories of marginalized peoples who have been hidden from history and are often essay lms that are multi-leveled and engage audiences viscerally and intellectually with the goal of activating them to make social change. She lives and works in New York City. Contact: barbarahammer@gmail.com

Filmography Barbara Hammer

1979 Available Space | 1979 Bent Time | 1979 Dream Age | 1986 Snow Job | 1987 No No Nooky T.V. | 1989 Sill Point | 1991 Vital Signs | 1993 Sanctus