From a theory of experimental film and video

Akira Mizuta Lippit

WHAT DOES IT MEAN for film and video to be experimental? In this collection of essays framed by the concept "ex-"--meaning from, outside, and no longer-- Akira Mizuta Lippit explores the aesthetic, technical, and theoretical reverberations of avant-garde film and video. Ex-Cinema is a sustained reflection on the ways in which experimental media artists move outside the conventions of mainstream cinema and initiate a dialogue on the meaning of cinema itself. "Ex-Cinema offers lucid and mesmerizing readings of a broad spectrum of avant-garde films and videos, ranging from Derek Jarman's Blue to Martin Arnold's and Matthias Muller's very different found footage works, from Maya Deren to structural film, and from Su Friedrich's performative autobiographies to Diane Thater's zoo videos. Lippit's passion for addressing the philosophical implications of experimental film and video is as...