John Conomos

Leftquote The primary function of education is to make one maladjusted to ordinary society. Rightquote
Northrop Fry
The Bells of Toledo, 2008
Radio show, 44' 33"

The Bells of Toledo is a passionate cinephile’s idiosyncratic homage to the great Spanish film maker Luis Buñuel. Best known perhaps for his scathing, surrealistic satires of middle class mores in films such as ‘The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie’ and The Exterminating Angel, Buñuel was a savage critic of…



Lake George (after Mark Rothko), 2007
24 minutes, Mini DV

A homage to Mark Rothko, and also in the long take cinema tradition (specifically Jean-Marie Straub and the late Daniele Huillet’s Too Early, Too Late [1982]), a landscape video about the ‘disappearing’ lake located outside Canberra, Australia. This work is in two versions; Installation and Essay (forthcoming).

Lake George (after Mark Rothko)


Aura, 2004
11 minutes, Mini DV

A video essay on the new ‘technological’ sublime in every day life.

Aura


Cyborg Ned, 2003
24 minutes, Mini DV

An homage to Nam June Paik TV Buddha series, this video sculpture represents Ned Kelly as Australia’s first ‘cyborg’ outlaw.

Cyborg Ned


Cinema of Solitude, 2001
Radio show, 28' 12"

French film-maker, Robert Bresson died in December, 1999 at the age of 92. Although he left behind only twenty hours of screen time, Bresson created one of the most distinctive bodies of work in world cinema. An enigmatic, solitary presence who became a figure of awe and …



Smoke in the Woods, 1999
Radio show, 37' 42"

Smoke in the Woods is an autobiographical meditation on exile, memory and time. This lyrical sound collage deals with the author’s ‘milk-bar childhood’ memories of 50s Sydney and of the Greek island of Kythera – whose inhabitants have travelled to Australia since the nineteenth century.



Album Leaves, 1999
39 min, SP Beta video

A three-channel video photo and neon installation dealing with the Diasporic Greek reflections on his childhood, cinema and the visual arts.

albumleaves0005


Autumn Song, 1998
23 minutes, SP Beta

Autobiographical performance about the artist’s childhood in a milk bar at Tempe and his ancestral forbearers from the Greek Island of Kythera.

Autumn Leaves