The Off Handed Jape

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The Off Handed Jape
0:00:05
The Off Hand Jape ... and How to Pull it Off 1967, William T. Wiley and Robert Nelson 16mm Film, 8 1/2 Minutes Exhibited here on the occasion of the exhibition What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.

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Dr. Otis Bird and Dr. Butch Babad
0:00:21
Artists Robert Nelson and William T. Wiley produced The Off Hand Jape (1967) in collaboration with one another. It features a performance that expresses their non-chalant and affecting screen presence.

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Some of the Japes
0:00:40
jape
  1. (v.) japed, jap·ing, japes
  2. (v.intr.) To joke or quip.
  3. (v.tr.) To make sport of.
[Middle English japen, probably from Old French japer, to yap, chatter, nag, of imitative origin.]

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T Shirts
0:00:58
The Off Hand Jape was filmed shortly after The Great Blondino, a film produced collaboratively between William T. Wiley and Robert Nelson. Both characters, Doctor Otis Babird and Doctor Butch Babad, in The Off Hand Jape are wearing T-Shirts from The Great Blondino.

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Narrative
0:01:29
Both films, The Great Blondino and The Off Hand Jape, were filmed without preparing much of a script. Some gestures were created on the spot and the narration was laid down after the film was shot.

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Gesture
0:02:26
The two characters in the film are asked to perform simple gestures without using language, perhaps questioning our assumptions about the meaning of body language and how it has developed. The camaraderie between the two artists enriches the exploration of signs and signifiers depicted in the film.

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Gesture and Language
0:03:45
The motions and gestures in The Off Hand Jape illustrate a moment of recognition, when understanding occurs, which is a seminal theme throughout William T. Wiley's artistic praxis.

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Early Performance
0:04:45
The Off Hand Jape marks a turning point in film and video art, as artists began documenting performances through film and presenting film as the work of art. This work, produced in 1967, foreshadows a wave of analogous film pieces by other well known artists of the genre, such as Joan Jonas, Vito Acconci, and John Baldessari.

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Humor and Seriousness
0:07:38
The laughter between the two artists, and the humor of the piece in general, are contrasted by the complexities of his subject. Wiley states, "we took what we were doing seriously, while trying not to take ourselves too seriously."

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Channels: American ArtFilm
Artists: William Wiley
Themes: PeoplePerformance

The Off Handed Jape ... and How to Pull it Off
1967, William T. Wiley
and Robert Nelson
16mm Film, 16 Minutes

What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect

mmansfield@si.edu's picture
Submitted by mmansfield@si.edu on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 14:28.

Actually, this copy of the film (which is contributed by the artist) is available here on the occasion of the artist's retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. The exhibition, What's It all Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect is on view through January of 2010 and features a number of Wiley's collaborations with his friend Robert Nelson.

mmansfield@si.edu's picture
Submitted by mmansfield@si.edu on Mon, 11/16/2009 - 12:22.

Well, this was clearly ripped, unauthorized, from the DVD of Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film 1947-1986, put out by the amazing National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF), the proceeds of which go to supporting film restoration. So if you like this, or any of the other Nelson films on here, please consider buying that DVD set - it's 2 discs of restored prints of some amazing American avant-garde work, including films by Hollis Frampton, Chick Strand, Harry Smith, Wallace Berman, Jonas Mekas, and many others.

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 11/06/2009 - 15:10.

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