Carolee Schneemann
b. 1939

A painter, performance artist, and filmmaker, Schneemann used abstract, paint-on-film techniques to assay feminist erotics in her autobiographical Fuses (1964-67). The film is a vibrant portrayal, shot in the filmmaker’s home, of her sexual relationship with composer James Tenney, observed by her cat, Kitsch. Jonas Mekas called Fuses the most “beautiful film of 1968,” although the film’s screening at Cannes erupted in a riot in which seats were torn. The film is remarkable for several reasons. It represents one of …

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