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Monday, April 1, 1996Dismantling the Dream FactoryBy Rodney Tanaka

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Spotlights shine on the elegant staircase as photographers await the entrance of a screen legend. Norma Desmond sweeps down the stairs, looks deep into the camera lens and says, "I'm ready for my closeup."

"Sunset Boulevard's" Norma Desmond and her celluloid contemporaries receive a close up examination in the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) exhibit, "Hall of Mirrors: Art and Film Since 1945," and an accompanying film series at UCLA's Melnitz Theater.

The exhibit examines the relationship between film and art with works from both mediums. The film series, organized with the UCLA Film and Television Archive, offers double features that drift from conventional pairing.

"We decided that for the film series we would primarily look at the influence of Hollywood on the other arts," says Andrea Alsberg, director of programming at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. "We thought of the films that took into account all forms of art and then we just broke it down. We were thinking about various limitations of the frame that artists both in film and in parking have to deal with."

Albert Lewin's 1945 film, "The Picture of Dorian Gray," showing on April 18, uses a painting as its centerpiece. The protagonist trades places with a portrait of himself, so the painting grows older while Dorian Gray remains young. Lewin's style and choice of imagery explores the merging of film and art.

"Dorian Gray is shot in a very one-dimensional, harsh light so even though he is alive, he looks like a painting himself," Alsberg says. "It's a black-and-white film, and the only time you see color is when you finally see the painting of Dorian Gray himself and it has become this monstrous human being."

The pairing of films by Akira Kurusawa and John Ford show how two directors from different backgrounds can share the common influence of visual storytelling. Ford's "The Searchers" features shots of the desert and wide open spaces where "the place is just as important as the human being walking through it," Alsberg says. "(Kurusawa's) 'Ran,' to a certain extent, is like that. The characters are important but it's the color and the way they are shot and it's the whole look of the film that's equally important."

Alfred Hitchcock created his own brand of visual style, and his film, "Vertigo," plays a key role in the film series and exhibit. In her "Hollywood Film Stills" series, artist Cindy Sherman dresses up like Kim Novak, the female lead in "Vertigo," and recreates a scene from the movie.

"'Vertigo' is a film that I would say if people could see the exhibition and then see the film they would get a lot more from the film or see it in a different light," Alsberg says. "Of course, the film stands on its own. You can just have this added component as to how this film has influenced such a magnitude of artists that are working now."

Sherman's photographs are included with other contemporary artists in "Rear Window: Fragments of the Cinematic Past," one of three sections within the exhibit. This section examines art from the mid-1970s to the present that use films of the past to comment on current events.

Raul Ruiz's "All the evil in men ..." eerily recreates rooms that show the resident's inner demons. The rooms are viewed through openings shaped like crosses. The wall of one room is covered with what appears to be blood. A cup of water seems to indicate that the resident will return soon. The television broadcasts only static.

The second section of the exhibit, "Cinema Degree Zero: Testing the limits," focuses on the '60s and early '70s, when filmmakers and artists boiled film down to its basic elements. The work of Fabio Mauri examines the apparatus used in viewing films. G.W. Pabst's "Westfront" is a 16mm film projected onto a fan in motion.

Michael Snow's "Two Sides to Every Story" projects two images on each side of a screen. Each film shows images of the opposing camera. When a card is placed over one movie camera the image on one side of the screen goes black while the other side shows this action taking place.

The section that opens the exhibit, "Lost Illusions: Dismantling the Dream Factory," examines the demystification of Hollywood. Robert Frank's "H for Hollywood Sign" shows the backside of the famous landmark. From the front, the white letters represent the magic and promise of Tinseltown. The rear view shows the boards used to prop the H up, a very sobering vantage point. The exhibit testifies to the impact that film has had on artists, in addition to individuals.

"Whether you're an artist or not, we grow up now with film very much educating us not only in the way we see the world, but how we interact and how we are as human beings," Alsberg says. "How we form relationships and how we handle conflict and love are sometimes influenced by a film that we have just seen."

The stature of the films in the series at Melnitz enhance the influence they have over viewers.

"We are showing some of the great films of all time in this series, and if you look at what's playing in Westwood and what we're playing here, there's really no comparison," Alsberg says. "I really encourage students to come look not only at the popular films, but the less popular films, because every one of these films have been hand-picked for a very specific reason.

"(The films) have gone out in the world," Alsberg adds. "They've been influenced by art or continue to influence the artists, and to look at them in that capacity rather than just to look at them as an isolated incident brings a richer sense to the work."

EXHIBIT: "Hall of Mirrors: Art and Film Since 1945" at the MoCA through July 28. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students with ID. For more info call (213) 626-6222. Film series at UCLA's Melnitz Theater, from April 6 through May 5. Adults $6, students with ID, $4. For more info call (310) 206-FILM.

The Museum of Contemporary Art exhibit, "Hall of Mirrors: Art and Film Since 1945," explores the relationship between film and art and features Mimmo Rotella's collage, II Mostro Immortale (Caltiki), 1961 (right) and "Selected Screentests" by Andy Warhol (above).

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