» Experimental Narratives & Avant-Garde Shorts

The films of Holly Fisher seem to reveal some magical qualities about cinema too often relegated to the shadows: an optical toy that creates motion out of stillness, space out of flatness, time out of flicker, cinema is built on its paradoxical condition as an illusion. In addition to her sensibilities about memory and perception, Holly seems especially in tune with this nature of film as a medium. Resonances between her images and their realities stoke our awareness as we watch them. We become aware of our position as spectators of shadows on the screen, wake us up to our own realities, where most films attempt to drag us into the dream life of a fictional world.

“BULLETS FOR BREAKFAST combines a sense of the familiar, the everyday, and of the mystery and evanescence of experience. It is both theoretically sophisticated and sensually engaging. It pays homage to pervasive visual and narrative myths of Western culture, even as it “skins” them in preparation for our cinematic consumption and digestion.”

-Scott MacDonald

“GLASS SHADOWS (1976) is a kinetic study of the female body. Fisher appeared in the film and used a window pane to reflect images of her body into the camera. Maureen Turim described Glass Shadows as ‘...a film that challenges feminist theory to expand its vocabulary and judgement to include not only a mode of critique, but also a more positive exploration of visual pleasure...’ Fisher, like Valie Export, is centrally preoccupied with reclaiming female representation and sexual pleasure from phallocentric discourse. In FROM THE LADIES (1977) continues in this vein. Shot in a multi-mirrored bathroom, Fisher again explores the tensions resulting from the dialectic between herself as object/actor and herself as subject/artist. In FROM THE LADIES Fisher demonstrates a ludic playfulness toward image and narrative technique.”

–Gwendolyn Audrey Foster

This disk publication contains a 28-page booklet complete with essays, photos and an interview with Holly Fisher.

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