Escalators to Eternity: The Choir Made Visible in Standish D. Lawder's Necrology

Art & Trash, episode 19 Escalators to Eternity: the choir made visible in Standish D. Lawder's Necrology Stephen Broomer, November 3, 2022 In 1970, Standish Lawder shot, candidly and at a distance, a crowded escalator in evening rush hour, at the Pan Am building at Park Avenue and 45th Street in New York City. At the time, the Pan Am building was the world’s largest commercial office space, right next to Grand Central Station. In one continuous shot, just shy of eight minutes, Lawder filmed hundreds of employees as they began their journeys home, descending from the skyscraper and into the lower world of commuter trains. Once the film was processed, Lawder turned the shot around, printed it in reverse, such that the employees, face to the camera, are carried upwards as if ascending to heaven. He called the film Necrology—a list of the dead, as in an obituary notice, an index to a necropolis, or the lists of dead and missing servicemen in Viet Nam. In this video essay, Stephen Broomer explores Lawder's absurdist humour, the film as an allegory for film projection, and its sardonic defiance of American individuality. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Comedy under the Bomb 03:07 - Standish Lawder and Necrology 06:19 - Lawder and Structural Film 08:30 - Light and Optics and the Frame 09:35 - The Copious Inventory 11:00 - Lawder after Gogol and Twain 12:44 - Necrology as Assembly Line -- Subscribe to Art & Trash:    / @artandtrash6095   This video is made possible via the sponsorship of Patreon supporters. Consider signing up for advance and exclusive content. My Patreon:   / artandtrash   Follow me on social media:   / artandtrash_     / artandtrash_     / trashandart   #experimentalfilm #cultclassic #undergroundfilm #filmcriticism #videoessay