Circus Girls

Having nothing to do with racial tensions, HOUSE OF THE WHITE PEOPLE is actually a chunk of film removed from a bigger chunk called UNSTRAP ME. It is a documentation of George Segal creating the basic elements for one of his statues preceded by rare glimpses into his own private museum. Donna Kerness serves as his live model. Walter Gutman sits on a chair and walks around a bit, being that he produced the film. Helen Segal, personifying the ageless saying, "behind every man there stands a woman," stands behind her man and also stands in front of him occasionally. The film is a unique invitation to view the hidden rituals of a famous artist and his infamous model, half naked, snowbound together on a lonely farm, with a silent wife and a notorious guest.

Exhausted by a sexually frustrating home life in the Bronx, portly, 65-year-old Uncle Bojo tosses aside all responsibilities, leaves his wife, Stella, and sets out in search of adventures.

An extrapolation of an erotic experience I once had, but it also wanders into pockets of American history.

Seadrift is based on a story The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft, and was shot partially in Marblehead Mass. Each section represents a synthesis of the various aspects and moods of the story. The sum total of the fragments expresses the atmosphere of the whole.

Among the dancers I especially admired – probably the one I admired the most – was Trisha Brown, and she let me film the [March 30, 1971] rehearsal of her remarkable dance at the Whitney Museum. What I admired about her was her absolute courage, and this was shown by the concept and execution of her dance at the Whitney. Most dancers hesitate a little when they are called upon to do something which might involve a disconcerting accident, but Trisha always did whatever was called for without that moment of hesitation. – Walter Gutman