Al Wong
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Discount House
Mar 15, 1971This film depicts a man in search of a relationship. However, after experiencing a number of situations, he realizes that the true relationship is with himself.
Twin Peaks
Jan 01, 1977While working as a delivery driver, artist Al Wong became captivated by the meditative qualities of the looping roads around San Francisco’s Twin Peaks. But rather than a simple documentation of these journeys, this long-form structural film utilises Wong’s conceptual explorations to create a stunning, sensual work of pure cinema that continually upends our perceptual expectations. On the soundtrack, we hear the continual lapping of ocean waves. A student of the legendary Sōtō Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, Al Wong here creates a film which perfectly symbolises the endless cycles discussed in Zen Buddhist philosophy. A monumental, largely-unseen masterwork 1970s avant-garde film, restored in 16mm by the Pacific Film Archive.
Documentary
24 Frames per Second
Mar 19, 1977I first started by taking a black 16mm film leader and holding a magnifying glass above the film. I then used the sunlight to burn each frame in the film leader. At the same time that I was burning the film leader, I was also filming the process of burning each frame. After developing the film, I then physically burned each frame with a soldiering iron in the exact same area that it was burned by the sunlight. The result was that when projected, one would see the filming of the burn at the same time one sees a single frame action of the physical burning of the film, followed by other concepts dealing with 24 frames. 24 frames make one second and this gives the illusion of smoothness. However, because each frame was burned, it gives an animated impression together with the smoothness of 24 frames.
Screen, Projector & Film
Jan 01, 1978This film deals with filming (taking) and (giving) projecting into the same space of present and past.
Same Difference
Jan 01, 1975Al Wong’s Same Difference was composed over the course of a year, a 16mm camera set up on a tripod in the artist’s kitchen capturing views of the San Francisco hills through a large double window. Artist Ursula Schneider sits on a chair underneath the window, her presence and stillness an essential part of the work. With Schneider’s body in the centre of the frame, Wong shot freely at different times of day and night, cloudy or empty skies, and experimented with in-camera effects and editing to compose complicated choreographies of light, clouds and atmosphere.
Environment
Jan 01, 1968I Loved Her
Jan 01, 1966Portrait of Ivan Majdrakoff
Jan 01, 1968
69 cents a pound
Jan 01, 1968Developing a new friend sometimes comes with discovering surprises. In this film, I experience when a personality changes so quickly that it appears to be two personalities.
U.S. Choice
Jan 01, 1968Yo Yo Paradise
Jan 01, 1972
Moving Still
Jan 01, 1974This film is still a close part of me. I don’t think I could make another one like this again. It deals with space on many levels within a single movement, a movement that has a circular form that involves each viewer within the film itself.
Shadow and Chair
Jan 01, 1979
Philip Whalen
Jan 01, 1981This film portrays my friend Philip Whalen, a Zen Buddhist monk and poet, reading from his book The Art of Literature. There is a play of spotlight and shadow in this work which emphasizes the elusiveness of truth in poetry.
Moon Stand
Jan 01, 1980
Paper Sister
Dec 27, 2022This work is a response to the Chinese Exclusion Act which was in enacted in the U.S. during the years of 1882-1943. This prohibited immigration on the basis of race. One of the only ways for families to come across was to become "paper" relatives of those who had legal status. This video montage expresses the emotions and turmoil these individuals endured.
Puddle
Jan 01, 1982The concern here is to try to make the space between the wall and the puddle to be connected. The image of the person on the wall picking up pebbles and tossing it to the area of the puddle having ringlets of water appearing.
Working Class
Jan 30, 1976This film depicts the cycle of the City of San Francisco, as one proceeds through a day of work.
Tea for Two
Jan 01, 1971The objective is to show myself visiting myself, and then showing the frustration of loneliness, by trying to be with myself. –Al Wong
