Review of Hapax Legomena I: (nostalgia) (1971) by David S — 16 Nov 2011

"In (nostalgia), Frampton is clearly working with the experience of cinematic temporality. The major structural strategy is a disjunction between sound and image. We see a series of still photographs, most of them taken by Frampton, slowly burning one at a time on a hotplate. On the soundtrack, we hear Frampton's comments and reminiscences about the photographs. As we watch each photograph burn, we hear the reminiscence pertaining to the following photograph. The sound and image are on two different time schedules. At any moment, we are listening to a commentary about a photograph that we shall be seeing in the future and looking at a photograph that we have just heard about. We are pulled between anticipation and memory. The nature of the commentary reinforces the complexity; it arouses our sense of anticipation by referring to the future; it also reminisces about the past, about the time and conditions under which the photographs were made. The double time sense results in a complex, rich experience.".

Bill Simon.

I rarely cite the opinion of a so-called 'expert' or 'critic' but this time the commentary made is absolutely spot-on.

Michael Snow: Thanks for coaching this guy Frampton for our visual pleasure!

99/100.