Harry Everett Smith
Big 101 Birthday Celebration in Portland
I will be reading an essay about my personal legacy with Harry Smith and a poem inspired by him at the Turn, Turn, Turn event on June 16th.
I strongly advise everyone in the Portland area to attend the Hollywood Theater on 6/15 for the program of films and music and IMPLORE you to check out Mahagonny at the Clinton Street Theater on 6/17.
Harry Smith (1923-1991) worked obsessively on MAHAGONNY for over ten years, shooting it from1970-72 and editing it from 1972-1980. Based on the Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, the film is an epic, four-screen projection which the filmmaker considered to be his magnum opus and described as a mathematical analysis of Marcel Duchamp’s Large Glass. MAHAGONNY is an allegory of contemporary life; it explores the needs and desires of man amid the rituals of daily life in New York City. Smith’s New York, like Mahagonny, is a place where everything is permitted and the only sin is not having enough money. Much of the film takes place within the Chelsea Hotel and contains invaluable portraits of important avant-garde figures such as Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith and Jonas Mekas. These appearances are intercut with installation pieces from Robert Maplethorpe’s studio, New York City landmarks of the era, and Smith’s unique, visionary animation. - From the Harry Smith Archives
from Wikipedia: Harry Everett Smith (May 29, 1923 – November 27, 1991) was an American polymath, who was credited variously as an artist, experimental filmmaker, bohemian, mystic, record collector, hoarder, student of anthropology and a Neo-Gnostic bishop.
Smith was an important figure in the Beat Generation scene in New York City, and his activities, such as his use of mind-altering substances and interest in esoteric spirituality, anticipated aspects of the Hippie movement. Besides his films, such as his full length cutout animated film Heaven and Earth Magic (1962), Smith is also remembered for his influential Anthology of American Folk Music, drawn from his extensive collection of out-of-print commercial 78 rpm recordings.
Throughout his life Smith was an inveterate collector. Other than records, his collections included string figures, paper airplanes, Seminole textiles, and Ukrainian Easter eggs.
Videos from the Whitney…
I plan on posting my essay and poem after the event but I would love to see everyone at Turn Turn Turn, The Hollywood Theater and/or Clinton Street 6/14-6/17 ! Thanks for reading!