The Responsive Eye (1966) Poster

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5/10
MOMA 'OP ART' opening Doco
aswerve25 February 2007
I found THE RESPONSIVE EYE on a DVD compilation I have entitled "ANNEES 60".

A 20 minute film documenting the opening night of a OP ART exhibition at the MOMA in New York 1966. An interesting piece as it contains many fantastic art works and even contains quick interviews with some of the artists, such as David Hockney.

I don't know if it was intentional, but the way this film was cut (by Brian De Palma) it comes across in some scenes as a poke at the so-called art experts and New York art set (no-one under 40 years old) and Andy Warhol Factory bunch is here as well.

"This work is a sham!" "It makes my head hurt" "I would love to buy one, but they are not selling!". My favourite edit contains an ultra-cool woman talking about the beauty of the work and mid-interview stops to say "Hello" to a friend of hers, which De Palma kept in it's entirety.

An odd curio from a decade of art that still seems even more odd and alive today.
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5/10
De Palma
BandSAboutMovies24 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Brian De Palma shot this twenty-minute short about an optical art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965. Artists such as David Hockney, Jeffrey Steele, Mon Levinson, Al Lesley, Josef Albers, Larry Rivers and Marisol appear, as well as architect Philip Johnson, curator William Seitz and actress Pamela Tiffin, who mostly acted in Italy in films including The Fifth Cord and Kill Me, My Love!

It's interesting to think about whether De Palma liked his subject or not, because you can almost see that he's making fun of the critics and the art scene of the time. Or is he just an impartial observer and that's how they all really are?

So much of De Palma's films play with optical illusion, so there's also the intrigue of seeing him film this art and wonder how it would show up later in his more celebrated movies.
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