Substrait (Underground Dailies), 1976
Betacam SP, PAL, noir et blanc et couleur, son et silencieux
Substrait (Underground Dailies), 1976
This video reel actually consists of three separate projects by Gordon Matta-Clark.
Splitting, the first sequence shot in super 8 is probably the artist’s most famous work. A small, familial home typical of New Jersey, New York’s dormitory town, is cut in two, as though it were a single block of material. The image recording with intertitles documents the cutting of the whole building with a power saw. Shot in an amateur style, the camera is not stable and films in a very impulsive manner. The shots highlight the interest in light, filmed through the cut in the house.
Bingo, the second sequence, reworks the betting game of the same name in which players must complete the squares of a grid. Once the grid is complete, the player yells “House”. In this video, Matta-Clark inverses the rules of the game. Nine sections are taken out of a game grid reconstituted on the wall of a house near the Niagara Falls. When there is nothing left but the now useless central panel, instead of yelling “House!” he is able to yell “No house!” having removed all of the building’s functionality.
The principles of anarchitecture were as follows:
"completion through removal
completion through collapse
completion through emptiness"
We can see that Matta-Clark’s approach plays with these principles – moreover, he finishes the job by entirely destroying the house with a bulldozer.
The third part is entitled Substrait. Edited as it was shot, this sequence documents guided visits in various parts of the New York sewers. Matta-Clark records the testimonies of people who work underground. A guard relates his encounter with an alligator. Another man talks about how Salvador Dali painted a mural in the sewers (now destroyed). As he walks and questions these people about their place of work, Matta-Clark films the environment, creating a sensitive document as once again the filming is spontaneous, depicting a feeling of proximity with the workers.
Patricia Maincent
Translated by Anna Knight