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The Eternal Frame

Ant Farm

1976 00:24:16 United StatesEnglishColorMono1/2" open reel video
Tags:
Activism , History , Media Analysis , Performance , Politics , Video History

Description

Irreverent yet poignant, The Eternal Frame is a re-enactment of the assassination of John F. Kennedy as seen in the famous Zapruder film. This home movie was immediately confiscated by the FBI, yet found its way into the visual subconscious of the nation. The Eternal Frame concentrates on this event as a crucial site of fascination and repression in the American mindset.

"The intent of this work was to examine and demystify the notion of the presidency, particularly Kennedy, as image archetype...."

— Doug Hall, 1984 

This title is also available on Surveying the First Decade: Volume 2, and an excerpt of this title (4:00) is also available on Presidents and Elections.

About Ant Farm

A San Francisco-based collective of artists and architects working from 1968 to 1978, Ant Farm’s activity was distinctly interdisciplinary—combining architecture, performance, media, happenings, sculpture, and graphic design. With works that functioned as art, social critique, and pop anthropology, Ant Farm tore into the cultural fabric of post-World War II, Vietnam-era America and became one of the first groups to address television’s pervasive presence in everyday life. As graphic artists, Ant Farm contributed to numerous underground publications, including Radical Software, and designed Michael Shamberg’s Guerrilla Television (1971).

Ant Farm members included Chip Lord, Doug Michels, Hudson Marquez, and Curtis Schreier.