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the_flicker

Tony Conrad: The Flicker

Tony Conrad: The Flicker

The Flicker, Dir. Tony Conrad, USA, 1966, 30 mins, 16mm

One of the most startling cinematic debuts on record, The Flicker is more a hallucination than a film, an out of body experience and riotous celebration of visual harmonics frequencies. An experiment in perception, come with your mind and eyes open.

“Tony Conrad (1940-2016) was an American avant-garde video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. In 1966 he made his first film The Flicker which is regarded as a landmark in structural film making. The film consists of alternating positive and negative film stock, producing a black and white flicker effect when projected. He approached the film by considering the relationship between the subjective psychological conditions of the flicker, and its relation to narrative and storytelling. He says, “I had felt that my own experience with flicker was a transporting experience in the way that movies affect the imagination at their best by sweeping one away from reality into a completely different psychic environment.” (Tate Modern)

Below is an online link which you can use for reference. Please be aware that the clip contains flashing imagery. To see the film in its original glory, check with the distributor of the film for their terms and conditions.

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