Paul Sharits (1943-1993)

Declarative Mode

An imageless pure color work, [‘abstract’ in form but…]

this is a single projector version

of the two projector piece

available through the New York

Coop. The two-projector piece is [Form I-2 projecton]

more visually kinetic but it lacks [Form II- Cinemascope one projection]

the subtle structures, the aware-

ness of exact connections and

variations which can be viewed

in this single projector version.

In short, it is more straightforward

[“narrative” in content] about its internal logic. This

Is a non-“structural” film, even

while it contains much “flicker.”

One cannot predict the scene by

scene fabric; nor is there an

overall unifying principle. The

film attempts to be like life itself,

full of unexpected twists and

turns. It is an homage to Jeffer- [refers to

son’s anti-slavery section of his          Declarative Mode on ]

Declaration of Independence

(which was voted down by the

first Congress) and it is my

declaration of independence from

the tyranny of preconception. Of       [My break from

working from an overall structure                 “structural film”

or structural logic. This new                                       1976]

chronicle form, or “abstract nar-

rative,” prefigures a long work in

[Passare I-IV] progress—PASSARE—which will

[30 min color/ silent] be like a book of temporal color

[in progress] with each chapter being about

30 minutes long.