Ross McLaren (filmmaker)
Encyclopedia
Ross McLaren is a Canadian artist and filmmaker, based in New York City
.
, Canada
and graduated with honors from Ontario College of Art
, where he also did post-graduate work.
—in his native country.
), Sex Without Glasses, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival
award-winning sensation Summer Camp.
A recipient of such prestigious grants as Ontario and Canada Council awards, McLaren has shown his works worldwide. His films screened at MoMA
, Anthology Film Archives
, the Menil Collection
, the National Film Theatre in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou
, the Biennale du Paris, Documenta
VI, Jyväskylä University in Finland, and ARKEN Museum of Modern Art
in Denmark. His work, which was presented in such esteemed venues as the Edinburgh
, Toronto
, and Oberhausen Film Festivals, is found in several permanent collections, including that of the American Federation of Arts
, New York, the Arts Council of Great Britain
, the Art Gallery of Ontario
, Toronto, Ottawa’s National Film Archives and the National Gallery of Canada
.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Biography
McLaren was born in 1953 in Sudbury, OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and graduated with honors from Ontario College of Art
Ontario College of Art & Design
OCAD University is Canada's largest and oldest educational institution for art and design. It is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on McCaul Street beside the Art Gallery of Ontario...
, where he also did post-graduate work.
Advocacy
For the last 30 years, McLaren has worked as a filmmaker, scholar, teacher, curator, critic, and community organizer. He founded and was first director of the Funnel Film Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, an institution devoted to the production, exhibition, and distribution of film. As founder/director, McLaren encouraged continued recognition of film—particularly Super 8Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
—in his native country.
Films
His films include: Crash 'n' Burn: the "self-destructive document of Toronto’s eponymous punk club," Wave, Weather Building, Dance of the Sacred Foundation Application (feat. Jack SmithJack Smith (film director)
Jack Smith was an American filmmaker, actor, and pioneer of underground cinema...
), Sex Without Glasses, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival
Ann Arbor Film Festival
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the third-oldest film festival in North America ; and the oldest experimental film festival...
award-winning sensation Summer Camp.
A recipient of such prestigious grants as Ontario and Canada Council awards, McLaren has shown his works worldwide. His films screened at MoMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
, Anthology Film Archives
Anthology Film Archives
__notoc__Anthology Film Archives is a film archive and theater located at 32 Second Avenue on the corner of East Second Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City devoted to the preservation and exhibition of experimental film. It is the only non-profit organization of its...
, the Menil Collection
Menil Collection
The Menil Collection, located in Houston refers either to a museum that houses the private art collection of founders John de Menil and Dominique de Menil, or to the collection itself...
, the National Film Theatre in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou
Centre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
, the Biennale du Paris, Documenta
Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
VI, Jyväskylä University in Finland, and ARKEN Museum of Modern Art
Arken Museum of Modern Art
ARKEN Museum of Modern Art is a private non-for-profit charity, state authorized, contemporary art museum near Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. The museum was conceived and created by Copenhagen County.-Museum:...
in Denmark. His work, which was presented in such esteemed venues as the Edinburgh
Edinburgh International Film Festival
The Edinburgh International Film Festival is an annual fortnight of cinema screenings and related events taking place each June. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival...
, Toronto
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, and Oberhausen Film Festivals, is found in several permanent collections, including that of the American Federation of Arts
American Federation of Arts
The American Federation of Arts is an organization in the United States of museums and other entities involved in the arts. It was established in 1909 at a convention held in Washington, D. C. from May 11–13 of that year called by the National Academy of Art. The concept for the organization was...
, New York, the Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
, the Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Gallery of Ontario
Under the direction of its CEO Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO embarked on a $254 million redevelopment plan by architect Frank Gehry in 2004, called Transformation AGO. The new addition would require demolition of the 1992 Post-Modernist wing by Barton Myers and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg...
, Toronto, Ottawa’s National Film Archives and the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
.
Selected filmography
- Winning, 40 min (2005)
- Wave, 5 min. (2004)
- Dance of the Sacred Foundation Application (feat. Jack Smith), 15 min. (2003)
- Lapland, 3 min. (2002)
- Muted Horn, Squeaky Stool, 9:11 min. (2001)
- Another Story, S-8, 5 min. (1988)
- Spin, 16mm, 1 min. (1987)
- Warehouse Eyes, S-8 & 16mm, 13 min. (1986)
- Tilt, S-8, 3 min. (1985)
- Let's Run Amok, S-8, 3 min. (1984)
- Sex Without Glasses, 16mm 12:30 min. (1983)
- Calgary Girls, S-8, 5 min. (1983)
- Launch 5ive, S-8, 2:38 min. (1982)
- 9 X 12, 16mm, 1 min., (also microfiche insert for Impulse Magazine) (1979–81)
- Wednesday, January 17, 1979, 16mm, 4:40 min. (1979)
- Snorkel, 16mm. 10:10 min. (1976–79)
- Summer Camp, 16mm, 60 min. (1978)
- Crash 'n' Burn, 16mm, 27:45 (1977)
- I.E., 16mm, 14:45 min. (1976)
- Weather Building, 16mm, 10:15 min. (1976) (features weather beaconWeather beaconA weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember....
on the Canada Life BuildingCanada Life BuildingThe Canada Life Building is a historic office building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fifteen-floor Beaux Arts building was built by Sproatt & Rolph and stands at , including its weather beacon....
) - Baby Green, S-8, 10:15 min. (1974)
Academic appointments
- Ontario College of ArtOntario College of Art & DesignOCAD University is Canada's largest and oldest educational institution for art and design. It is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on McCaul Street beside the Art Gallery of Ontario...
, Toronto - The Funnel Film Theatre, Toronto
- Fanshawe College, Fine Arts Dep’t., London
- The Cooper Union School of ArtCooper UnionThe Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
, New York - Millennium Film WorkshopMillennium Film WorkshopThe Millennium Film Workshop is a non-profit media arts center and cinema located in the East Village neighborhood of New York City dedicated to the exhibition, study, and practice of avant-garde and experimental film, video, and all technologies of the moving image.- History :An integral part of...
, New York - Fordham University: College at Lincoln CenterFordham UniversityFordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
, New York - Koulu Lapland, Finland
- Pratt InstitutePratt InstitutePratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
, Brooklyn
Selected awards and distinctions
- Albert Frank Toronto - Amsterdam Artist's Award
- Ann Arbor Film FestivalAnn Arbor Film FestivalThe Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the third-oldest film festival in North America ; and the oldest experimental film festival...
Award (multiple) - Black Maria Film Festival - Director's Citation
- Canada CouncilCanada CouncilThe Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...
Grant, London Film Festival - Canada Council Film Production Grant
- Ontario Arts CouncilOntario Arts CouncilThe Ontario Arts Council is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to promote and assist the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of all Ontarians...
Film Production Grant - Ontario Arts Council Visual Arts Grant
- Parabola Arts Foundation Film Distribution Project
See also
- Canada Life BuildingCanada Life BuildingThe Canada Life Building is a historic office building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fifteen-floor Beaux Arts building was built by Sproatt & Rolph and stands at , including its weather beacon....
- Crash 'n' Burn
- Diodes
- List of punk films
- Punk filmPunk filmPunk film is a type of film associated with the punk subculture. Many punk films have been made, and punk rock music videos and punk skate videos are common. The use of stock footage typifies punk film. Several famous groups have participated in movies, such as the Ramones in Rock 'n' Roll High...
- Stiv BatorsStiv BatorsStiv Bators , was an American punk rockvocalist and guitarist from Youngstown, Ohio. He is best remembered for his bands, The Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church.- Music and film career :...
- Weather beaconWeather beaconA weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember....
External links
- The Cooper Union http://www.cooper.edu
- Fordham University, New York, NY http://www.fordham.edu
- Millennium Film Workshop, New York, NY http://www.millenniumfilm.org/
- Porter, John. "A History of 8mm and Super 8 Film in Toronto." First published in Pop Off: The Regular 8 Faction, YYZ Artists' Outlet: Toronto, 1998. http://www.super8porter.ca/Toronto8mm.htm
- Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY http://www.pratt.edu