This exhaustive study focuses on the New York filmmakers that coalesced around the radical manifesto espoused by downtown filmmaker Nick Zedd- "none shall emerge unscathed." Placing their work within the wider alternative film and downtown post-punk scenes, Deathtripping offers detailed analyses of the movement's films alongside interviews with the filmmakers and their collaborators, including Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, Tommy Turner, Beth B, Joe Coleman, and Lydia Lunch. Also discussed are seminal influences such as the Kuchar brothers, Jack Smith, and Andy Warhol as well as the history of underground and trash cinema.
Deathtripping is one of the best books on the "Cinema of Transgression" out there, mainly because it is populated with stills and rare photos. The cinema of transgression is a movement that really works on a visual level and some of the content of these films needs to be seen to be believed. That is why I think this picture book is probably the best place to start, short of seeing the films yourself. Jack Sargeant, writer of numerous "Creation Cinema" books, does a decent job describing the movement and its aesthetic principals (even if one wants to argue Nick Zedd is an anti-aestheticist). If you've seen other Creation Cinema books, you know what to expect. Lots of medium-quality, black and white pictures, many of which include graphic content. It's not so much like the Taschen director series of lush photographs beautifully presented on glossy paper. It feels cheap and dirty, but after all, that's sort of what the cinema of transgression was all about! If you're interested in this subject at all, pick this up. It's informative and a good reference.
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