LINE

Line
(Yvonne Rainer, 10 mins., b/w, 1968)

Yvonne Rainer is economical with her titles and Line is just what it proclaims to be. A thin grey line stretching diagonally from left to right slices the film frame in half. Later a girl enters the picture. With a pen she adds to the line. In a similar fashion her body adds to the film frame, giving it an illusion of depth. For an extended period of time she lingers on the screening. Lying on the her stomach, facing away from the camera she occasionally turns and smiles the filmmaker.

Of the five Rainer pieces I watched back to back this last one stretched my patience to the verge of snapping. Whether it was the culmination of all the work or this particular work is hard to say. Though the girl in the picture is pretty to the eye she overstayed her welcome and one quickly grows bored of her inactive presence.