On Sunday, Dec. 5, media artist John Knecht presented a selection of his various single and multi-channel works in the Bradford Auditorium, located in the Kirner Johnson building, a part of Hamilton College’s F.I.L.M. series.
This was the last presentation of the semester for the series which has continuously provided free and open events related to the art of cinema for students to enjoy throughout the year. The F.I.L.M. series is made possible by the office of the Dean of Faculty and receives support from the Kirkland Endowment, the Art History Department and the Days-Massolo Center with events curated by Director of Cinema and Media Studies Scott MacDonald with the help of Educational Technology Specialist Bret Olsen.
According to his personal website, John Knecht has been a practicing film and video artist since 1973, creating celebrated works of art such as
Deluge: Studies in the Super Natural
(2010) and
Curiosities from the Anthropocene
(2020).
Knecht’s projects are rooted in the surreal painting and in the early history of animation. He cites his artistic inspirations to be early, pre-1895 films when cinema was a novel concept and filmmakers were just starting to experiment with the craft. Knecht has an appreciation for the aesthetic of films in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
Knecht considers himself a visual artist and never uses cameras in his projects, preferring to hand draw his work and relying upon his background as a painter. He thinks of every shot frame by frame, scanning his drawings and putting them into Photoshop where he finishes them and creates a film.
The F.I.L.M. event lasted around one hour and 45 minutes, with Knecht presenting six of his works, each lasting from five to ten minutes. His presented work included,
The Possible Fog of Heaven
(1993),
DELUGE
(2010),
Mr. Baxter’s Trip to a Parallel Universe
(2011),
The Mechanics of the Game
(2012),
Grumble Bummer
(2021) and
Curiosities from the Anthropocene
(2020). Knecht stated many of his works deal with the afterlife, a topic that fascinates him deeply. They also touch upon fantasy worlds, where one does not have to worry about logic and can explore.
Knecht began with
The Possible Fog of Heaven
, a film that brought him notoriety, in which Elvis Presley speaks for the first time from the afterlife, describing his experiences in Heaven through a series of voiceovers and graphic texts. As Knecht put it, “The structure of the tape follows the last drug prescriptions Elvis had before he died.” He continued by showing
DELUGE, Mr. Baxter’s Trip to a Parallel Universe
and
The Mechanics of the Game
in quick succession of one another.
These projects built upon his interest to build a fantastical place that viewers can go to. They were all hand drawn with pencil and paper, a process he enjoys because he still thinks of the screen as a piece of paper and gives him greater control over his creation. Knecht finished his presentation with his two latest projects,
Grumble Bummer
and
Curiosities from the Anthropocene
, which explore a future where humanity no longer exists. The latter has been selected for the Athens International Film and Video Festival.
John Knecht’s films are hard to characterize, given their diversity and the various themes they explore. They tell stories through nonconventional and experimental means, allowing the viewer to interpret it in their own way. That is not to say that Knecht did not craft his work to explore a particular idea or subject area, and his films often express a theme he is interested in.
As Justin Hern ’24, a student that has attended various F.I.L.M. events put it, “I think it’s quite interesting to see creators explain their work after we watch it, especially for films that are this abstract and surreal. It provides context and understanding, bridging the gap between our subjective interpretation and the creator’s intent.”
