Date of Award
Spring 5-6-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Art & Art History
First Advisor
Lynda Klich
Second Advisor
Maria A. Pelizzari
Academic Program Adviser
Maria A. Pelizzari
Abstract
Harry Smith’s Film No. 18, Mahagonny, 1970 – 1980, is a transmutation of the original Brecht-Weill opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, a 1930, into a feature-length experimental film. This paper shows how the original opera and Duchamp's The Large Glass prove inherent to Smith’s double-pronged homage to both original works of art. The failure in the opera narrative and the chance shattering of The Large Glass inform Smith’s complex methodology to approach and spatialize cinema. Harry Smith’s use of the tools of the screening apparatus are traced in order to study Mahagonny in detail. The film exemplifies his practice of making works of art that extend outside their parameters, in this case, the screen. Through this analysis of Mahagonny, the specific differences between film, artifact, stage, appropriation, and art object fall apart.
Recommended Citation
Marcus, Rose V., "Appropriation of the Highest Order: A Study of Harry Smith’s Master Work, Film No. 18 Mahagonny in relation to the Brecht-Weill opera The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and Duchamp’s The Large Glass" (2021). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/723
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