Working in the opposite mode of Warhol's Screen Tests, Bernstein's super-short films (rarely exceeding a minute) get absurdly up close and personal with their subjects (complete with shaky handheld cinematography), reducing the encounter to one abstract angle: Rod Smith warns of the postal perils of fruitcakes, Hank Lazer compares poetry and shrimp, Caroline Bergvall discusses "Norwegian speakin,'" Norman Fischer tells of his past work as a baker, and John Yau articulates the difference between children and bears.
Some of the other folks included in the series are Peter Gizzi, Marjorie Perloff, David Antin, Leslie Scalapino, Mimi Gross, Ann Lauterbach, Nicole Brossard, Phong Bui, John Ashbery, Christian Bök, Susan Howe, Jerry and Diane Rothenberg, John Tranter, and Tom Haworth, among many others. To start watching, click the title above.
