COMPOSITION #1: THEMIS & COMPOSITION #2: CONTRATHEMIS

by Dwinell GRANT
1940-1941 / 16mm / color / silent / 1S / 9' 12

Composition #1: Themis 1940, 3 minutes 30 seconds

“Grant had been an abstract painter for five years before making any abstract films. Their titles, ‘Themis,’ ‘Contrathemis,’ and ‘Three Themes in Variation,’ illuminate his theory that the thematic structure of visuals is comparable to that of music. Therefore Grant felt that his silent films created their own visual music.” —Cecile Starr

Composition #2: Contrathemis 1941, 4 minutes

“Grant continues to explore the interplay of forms against backgrounds of varying colored light. While he uses stop-animated paper figures similar to those in ‘Composition #1,’ the flat drawings and greater use of curves make this a more organic and fluid abstract composition.” —R. Bruce Elder

Courtesy:
Dwinell Grant
Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film 1893-1941



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