I was struck by an interesting bit of serendipity regarding filmmaker Dani Leventhal’s visit to the Wexner Center this month. Not only was she born in Columbus, she was a student at Indianola Elementary; a school whose just-off-campus address makes it practically neighbors with the Wexner Center. Since those early years at Indianola Leventhal has taken a meandering path that’s culminated in her trip back to Columbus as part of the Wexner Center’s Visiting Filmmaker Program. It’s a route that included stops in upstate New York, Chicago, Illinois, Annadale-on-Hudson, Israel, Germany, and most recently, Brooklyn.
This rather circuitous trip from Columbus to Columbus is rivaled only by the filmmaker’s roundabout creative and educational pursuits. Dani Leventhal began her undergraduate studies with a focus on ceramics at Ohio University, and later, Earlham College. She moved to larger and more sculptural endeavors while pursuing her MFA at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was there that a hand injury involving a heavy piece of sculpture and a boat winch opened the door for Leventhal’s second MFA, this one in Film and Video from Bard College. Interspersed throughout this educational journey were all manner of fellowships, internships, exhibitions, and guest faculty spots in half a dozen other locales.
Perhaps it’s this sense of movement and motion that accounts for the unique perspective found in the films of Dani Leventhal. Leventhal often shoots what she refers to as diaristic films. The style is very much “first person shooter” with lots of quick cuts, jarring juxtapositions, and unconventional relationships. This method of shooting, combined with very little reliance on staging, image manipulation, or sound editing creates an immediacy that can be at times unnerving.
The films themselves are pieced together from a library of raw footage that Leventhal has accumulated through years of shooting. This library of film serves as a resource to rummage through, always with an eye toward making meaning in a kind of video collage process. In this sense, the filmmaker is employing a process very much in the found object tradition of making art, only the objects aren’t really objects in the physical sense, they’re experiences, fragments of conversations, and bits of personal ephemera
One of the most intriguing aspects of Leventhal’s work is the DIY quality it exhibits. It’s work that’s immediate, personal, and very much in the moment. Picasso once said, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, and a lifetime to paint like a child”. I think that quote is useful in understanding where Dani Leventhal is coming from. Her films have a relentless curiosity in their approach. They poke and prod, get up close, and force the viewer really look at what’s there. They’re films that have either unlearned the rules, or ignored them altogether in favor of a very personal perspective.
It’s work too that acknowledges the democratization of film making. The fact of the matter is that from a cost and technique stand point, practically anyone can do what Dani Leventhal is doing. The equipment is not prohibitively expensive, and neither is the editing software. There’s no crew, no paid actors, and no expensive effects. To her credit, Ms Leventhal isn’t threatened by this in the least. In fact, she welcomes it. She champions not just the accessibility of equipment, but also the belief that everyone has a story to tell and everyone has experiences to share. Considering the elitism that often clings to the art world, that is a refreshing perspective indeed.
On Wednesday February 16th Dani Leventhal, along with Chicago-based video artist Jesse McLean, will introduce Look at Our Life Now, a screening of new experimental short films at the Wexner Center. Included in this program will be two of Leventhal’s diaristic films, Hearts are Trump Again (2010) and Draft 9 (2003).
For more information, contact the Wexner Center for the Arts at www.wexarts.org.
Photo credits:
Dani Leventhal
Hearts are Trump Again (film still)
2010
Dimensions variable
Dani Leventhal
Draft 9 (film still)
2003
Dimensions variable
Jeff Regensburger is a painter, librarian, and drummer in the (currently dormant) rock combo The Patsys. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts (Painting and Drawing) from The Ohio State University in 1990 and an Master’s Degree in Library Science from Kent State University in 1997. Jeff blogs sporadically (OnSummit.blogspot.com), tweets occasionally (@jeffrey_r), and paints as time allows.