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Frank Kuenstler

    photo © Kenny Schneider

Note: The following five films are made available in collaboration with Anthology Film Archives.

El Atlantis (1973, 21 minutes)

From footage from the early or mid-1950s; soundtrack -- a toy piano, played by Kuenstler, "tape slowed, edited, adjusted to fit the images" [Michael O'Brien]


Paradise (date unknown, prob. after 1976; 7 min.)

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Country Su Casa (date unknown, 3 min.)

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Color Idioms (1968, 18 min.)

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Two plays by Serge Gavronsky (1968, 25 min.): "A Gentleman's Friend" and "A Play"

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Other films by Kuenstler:
Our Trip to India, 1970, 6 minutes
Vignette with Scratches, 1970, 6 minutes
Mrs. Aristotle, 1970, mixed media, 40 minutes
Bolero, 1970, 15 minutes
A Pure Film, 1974, 17 minutes
Did Ulysses Bend the Bow?, 1974, 40 minutes (video)

Poetry Readings

Reading from IN WHICH, published by Cairn Edition, 1984, New York

Complete Reading (22:57): MP3

Reading of "THE CAR0LS AND THE SIMILES #1," New York City, April 1973

An unpublished manuscript by same title exists in at least one version in the Frank Kuenstler Archive; no other part has been located. First line of poem is given in quotes when poem is read without title.

  1. Alba Agon (0:23) : MP3
  2. The Bessie Smith Story (0:40) : MP3
  3. "The kitty ate its ..." (0:18) : MP3
  4. Confusions (0:14) : MP3
  5. Poem Written on Grape Paper (0:44) : MP3
  6. The GBS Story (0:26) : MP3
  7. "Possibly the most prolific. . ." (0:24) : MP3
  8. Poem Etre (0:56) : MP3
  9. "Windmills, zippers..." (0:07) : MP3
  10. Poem for the Warsaw Ghetto (0:32) : MP3
  11. "As green as money..." (0:56) : MP3
  12. "Into the throat of ..." (0:20) : MP3
  13. Jenny, Jenny (0:55) : MP3
  14. Examination (0:53) : MP3
  15. "What did the grasshopper..." (0:37) : MP3
  16. The Right Man in the Wrong Place (After James Joyce) (0:17) : MP3
  17. Opus Posthumous (0:44) : MP3
  18. On the Circus and the Marketplace (0:06) : MP3
  19. Song of the Horn (0:13) : MP3
  20. Line (0:06) : MP3
  21. Poem (0:09) : MP3
  22. Styles (0:31) : MP3
  23. Song (0:27) : MP3
  24. Paragraph by Aristotle (0:09) : MP3
  25. Pie (0:37) : MP3
  26. Anthologies (0:06) : MP3
  27. Song (0:30) : MP3
  28. Song (0:10) : MP3
  29. Wandering (1:05) : MP3
  30. Poem: Mother Gobbligook (0:14) : MP3
  31. Verbs (0:07) : MP3
  32. Poem (0:26) : MP3
  33. St. Marks in the Bowery (1:22) : MP3
  34. Two: The Gambit Book of Children (0:21) : MP3
  35. Hat (0:30) : MP3
  36. Two (0:12) : MP3
  37. "The kola beat is..." (0:32) : MP3
  38. "From him to her..." (0:14) : MP3
  39. The Good Photographer (0:11) : MP3
  40. A Little Poem for Emily (0:13) : MP3
  41. "Be it ever so bumble..." (0:05) : MP3
  42. Make Believe Rag (0:10) : MP3
  43. The Carols and the Similes: Children's Song (0:56) [Kuenstler reads title, poss. for insertion at beg. of recording] : MP3
  44. Song (0:04) : MP3
  45. "Shake it, break it..." (0:30) : MP3
  46. Dear (0:13) : MP3
  47. Syllogism (0:07) : MP3
  48. Dear Eurydice (0:06) : MP3
  49. Family Court (0:40) : MP3
  50. At the Center of Night Tom McKay, (0:43) : MP3
  51. The Pat Ozinfant Song (0:42) : MP3
  52. "Quote tonight tonight..." (0:05) : MP3
  53. Complete Reading (27:45): MP3

Note: Title transcriptions phonetic, and may contain unintended homonyms.

Related Resources:

Kuenstler's Lens is available in its entirety at Eclipse.

Charles Bernstein on Kuenstler at his EPC page.

John Yau on Kuenstler at Hyperallergic.

From L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E 13 (1981): AND FOR ANYTHING THAT I COULD CALL MY OWN THINKING: pdf

These films and sound recordings are being made available for noncommercial and educational use only. All rights to this recorded material belong to the Estate of Frank Kuenstler. © 2009-2011 Frank Kuenstler. Used with permission of Emily Kuenstler. Films made availabble in collaboration with Anthology Film Archives. Distributed by PennSound.