To coincide with the Hatton Gallery’s exhibition of the leading US artist Ed Ruscha (b.1937) (Ed Ruscha: Artists Rooms, 22 Feb-22 May 2013), his two rarely shown films Premium (1971) and Miracle (1975), both on 16mm.

Ed Ruscha like many of his artist contemporaries in the 1960s-70s, also explored filmmaking.  Ruscha's efforts were short-lived - he only made two films but they are idiosyncratic and fascinating evocations of the time and touch on many of the themes Ruscha developed in his painting. They’re rarely seen, probably because he insists that they be shown on film, refusing to relinquish the original feel of his projects. While he apparently enjoyed the experience of making these films, Ruscha didn’t take them too seriously. 

He remarked in 1973, after attempting to find distribution forPremium: “Some artists make films that are an end in themselves…they’re statements. Mine’s not like that. I don’t want people to look at the film like it’s a deep statement on my part. It’s just an excuse, the story, to make a movie…. I don’t know where the movie fits in anywhere, and I can’t place it in my art at all.” 

FILM 1: Premium (1971, 24 min, 16mm, dir. Ed Ruscha)

The immediate source of Premium was an artists book, Crackers, that Ruscha made in 1969, itself deriving from a story, 'How to Derive the Maximum Enjoyment from Crackers,' written by Mason Williams, it dates from the period when Ruscha had grown tired of paint and was working with such materials as chocolate sauce, salad dressing, raw eggs, and motor oil.  

The film follows a young lothario (played by artist Larry Bell) as he rents a cheap room, arranges a giant salad on the sheets of its bed, and invites over an unsuspecting woman to be his crouton of love.

FILM 2: Miracle (1975, 28 min, 16mm, dir. Ed Ruscha)

Miracle is a tale about a strange day in the life a car mechanic whose monkish obsession with the carburetor of a 1965 Mustang delays his date (with actress Michelle Phillips)

TICKETS

On the door: £5 / £3.50 (concessions)

With thanks for assistance from the Gagosian Gallery