Maya Deren

Maya Deren was an American avant-garde filmmaker and film theorist during the 1940's and 50s. She was also a choreographer, dancer, poet, writer, and photographer. Deren started her schooling at Syracuse University and graduated from New York University. She got her M.F.A. in English Literature at Smith College. She was a key figure in the creation of New American Cinema, highlighting personal, experimental, and underground film.

"Although her eyes indicate distrust, she is not desperate to escape her domestic space, but she is not entirely comfortable immured behind the glass. This image symbolizes some of Deren’s most significant initiatives in experimental cinema" (Haslem, Wendy).

"It foreshadows her experiments with superimposition and the juxtaposition of disparate spaces. It is an image that suggests the most compelling themes of her film work: dreaming, reflection, rhythm, vision, ritual and identity. Like Cindy Sherman’s film stills, this image represents a poignant and hesitant moment, but unlike the photographs, Deren’s still shot belongs within a dynamic, kinetic narrative" (Haslem, Wendy).

I chose Maya Deren this week after we discussed her work in my weekly meeting. I remember seeing her work in a film history class and being struck by how eerie everything looked. She was the first female experimental filmmaker that I looked at. I really like the sound design within her films, especially her film Meshes of the Afternoon. There is no sound in the film, just the soundtrack which was done by Teiji Ito. Rhythm plays an important role in the film, it speeds up deliberately at certain times. I really enjoy the surreal nature of her work and it inspires me to make my own film work somewhat surreal, kind of like the work of Pipilotti Rist. Her sound design is also really inspiring, I myself really enjoy messing around with rhythms and heavy beats within a sound piece and seeing her work made me want to revisit my sound pieces and rework them.

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/deren-2/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0220305/

Maya Deren does not have an artist website, the closest thing to it is an IMDB page that was made for her.