The Responsive Eye (1965)
Before Brian De Palma became a narrative film maker he made documentaries. Among them is The Responsive Eye, which chronicles the Museum of Modern Art’s 1965 exhibition of op-art. Curated by William Seitz, this was the first significant exhibit of optical art synchronous with and in some cases arising out of the early days of psychedelic culture. It’s amusing to watch the stuffed shirts within the art world attempt to describe what they are looking at in conventional terms or resorting to psychological mumbo jumbo without ever mentioning mescaline or LSD.
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The greatest movie ever made..!
Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
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.