Tone Glow & Comfort Film Present: LeAnn Bartok's films

Tone Glow is excited to present "Spirit and Light, Earth and Sky," a program dedicated to the works of LeAnn Bartok (1937-2001), a painter, sculptor, poet, inventor, and filmmaker. Bartok starred in Japanese Yakuza movies during the early 1960s, but it wasn't until the 1970s that she made her own films. The impetus was a series of projects entitled Skyworks, which involved dropping massive rolls of crêpe paper and ribbon from airplanes. These works saw her treat the sky as a canvas, embracing ephemerality in a more direct and pointed manner than her contemporaries making “land art.” In wanting to document these events, she had skydivers wield cameras while plunging down to Earth. These four Skyworks films (1973-1976), go beyond simple documentation and show careful attention to editing, symbolism, and rhythm. They stand as some of the most striking films affiliated with Pittsburgh Filmmakers, the now-defunct media arts center.

While Bartok was known in the Pittsburgh arts community, the rest of the US would have heard about her from receiving a $6025 National Endowment of the Arts grant in 1975, which was ridiculed by Senator William Proxmire (D-Wis). Each month, Proxmire would issue the Golden Fleece Award as a way to mock government spending—other recipients included the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Science Foundation. Proxmire stated that Bartok’s work was “just another yawn-producing home movie… I see no reason for the federal government to pay for this kind of frou-frou.” Bill Judson of the Carnegie Museum of Art replied to such accusations, explaining that “persons in positions of leadership in this country must consider the importance of activities which sustain and develop the minds, the healthy imaginations, the spirits of all of us, as human beings.” While Bartok went on to create one final film, Film Painting I (1977), Proxmire's statements effectively ended her film career.

Much of this sounds familiar in a time of Elon Musk’s DOGE and our current administration’s suspension of NEA grants. Tone Glow hopes this screening provides a reminder of what is possible when money is invested into the arts. Special thanks to Canyon Cinema, Ben Creech, and Comfort Station.

Film Program:

Skyworks: The Red Mile (1973, sound, 10 mins)

Skyworks: Wind & Fire (1975, silent, 8 mins)

Skyworks: Three Mile Drop – Light, Lighten, Lightning (1976, sound, 16 mins)

Skyworks: Multiple Mile Drop (1976, sound, 21 mins)

Film Painting I (1977, silent, 19 mins)

TRT = 74 mins

Media: 16mm film projection

All events at Comfort Station are free. For those who are able to pay, a $10 suggested donation would be welcome.

Programmed for Comfort film by Raul Benitez, Emily Perez, Luna Lux and Matthew Tapey.