Zorns Lemma
Cast & Crew
Hollis Frampton
Rosemarie Castoro
Ginger Michels
Marcia Steinbrecher
Twyla Tharp
Susan Weiner
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Section I (4 min): Over a blank screen, a didactic female voice recites alphabetic couplets from an early Bay State Primer. Section II (47 min, silent): Letters from the Roman alphabet, silver on a black ground, alternate with random images, including those of a book; an egg frying; a red ibis; cookies; a woman's face; a tree in winter; hands washing; a strolling man; beef being ground; a newly-painted wall; a child swinging; three men excavating; dried beans; shoes; a steam vent; a child's Tinkertoy chain; rhinoceros; a flat tire; a tangerine; sidestreets at night; a bonfire; cattails; and waves. Gradually, these images replace letters in the sequence, according to a mathematical progression. Section III (11 min): As six female voices read from Robert Grosseteste's 13th-century treatise, On Light or the Ingression of Forms , each voice reciting in turn a single word, a couple and a dog retreat through a snowy field into a forest. As they disappear into the woods, the image of the field fades to white.
Director
Hollis Frampton
Cast
Rosemarie Castoro
Ginger Michels
Marcia Steinbrecher
Twyla Tharp
Susan Weiner
Joyce Wieland
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The title refers to an axiom in set theory mathematics.
Miscellaneous Notes
Shown at New York Film Festival September 12, 1970.
Released in United States 1970
Released in United States September 12, 1970
Narrative extract "Bay Street Primer" (1800 edition)
Released in United States 1970
Released in United States September 12, 1970 (Shown at New York Film Festival September 12, 1970.)
