Robert Flowers has been making films and videos since 1985. He received his Ph.D. in Humanities – Major in Aesthetic Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas in August 2010. His dissertation is titled, Experimental Film in the Age of Binary Data: The Digital Alternative to the Celluloid Image. Flowers received a MFA in Filmmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1992 where he studied with many notable avant-garde filmmakers such as Ernie Gehr, George Kuchar and Janis Lipzin. He has produced a number of films and videos, many of which have been shown at the Ann Arbor, Athens, Humboldt, and Onion City film/video festivals, as well as the Anthology Film Archive, Robert Beck Memorial Cinema and most recently a solo show at the Millennium in New York. Throughout the nineties he worked in the motion picture industry for such notable companies as Panavision Inc. Flowers is also a video instructor at Richland College in Dallas, Texas.
Artist Statement
My early films and analog videos dealt primarily with religious dogma and socio-political topics. Coinciding with the advent of digital technologies I moved away from such congested issues, instead concentrating on elements such as structure, abstraction, and rhythm. I believe the concept, process, and completed work all have equal significance. A lax in either of the two former elements produces deficiencies in the latter. The outcome must justify the means and vice versa. The image on screen that the eyes receive and the audio collected by the ears are the most essential elements, not the idea of the image or the idea of the audio. The picture and sound must bind themselves in cohesive finality. The actual manifestation via the screen and speakers are the final objective. I strive to create works in which the viewer need not be reliant on written documentation, knowledge of advanced cinematic theorems, nor current artistic trends.
This exciting new collaboration will begin with a grand opening reception and group exhibition entitled “The End of Commerce” on October 22 at 6 PM, 2010. The MAC will curate and present the works of Dallas artist Robert Flowers.