JoAnn Elam

A series of home move style shots of a mother and her young child crawling outdoors. Scenes include a mother and toddler playing in a Chicago backyard, a young family boating in a small lake, toddlers playing & bathing outdoors, a young girl and her stuffed animal and a children's birthday party with a pi?ata. Exact date of production is unknown.

Chicago streets.

An outdoor gathering.

A myriad of purple and blue markings flicker hypnotically across the screen in “Filmabuse.” Periodically a blue screen flashes, disturbing the trance induced by the colorful smudges. The rhythm of the colors gathers steam and accelerates as the film continues. Near the conclusion, for the entirety of one second, a woman appears; she is “put together” without a stray hair; however, her face appears scarred and swollen, juxtaposing the slight grin her lips muster.

A poetic tribute to the establishment of the maple farm in Monterey, MA, owned and operated by JoAnn Elam's friend Bonner McAllester and her husband Joe Baker. Elam and McAllester were close friends since their time at Antioch College together, and Elam would return to the farm and make films many times through the 1980s. Using double exposure and occasional rapid editing, this film follows McAllester, Baker, and a group of friends as they live in the teepee first built on the property, dig the foundation for a more permanent structure, harvest and prepare their crops, and build a new wooden structure on top of the dug-out foundation. Elam films the workers with a focus on their bodies and hands, emphasizing the tactility of their labor, but at other times also foregrounds the ethereal quality of their natural surroundings.

A covered bridge and the nature surrounding it.

“Tai Chi II,” similarly to Elam’s “Tai Chi Bowling” and “Tai Chi,” focuses on movement. Through a sequence of close-ups, Elam coyly records portions of several individuals practicing tai chi, primarily focusing on the practitioners’ extremities as they float about. Distinct from its affiliates, “Tai Chi II” finds the action taking place outside.

USPS workers go bowling.

Optical printing experiments of a 16mm pornographic film.

The title of this fast paced experimental film presumably refers to the American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972. The film quickly edits and overlaps scenes from various rural and urban landscapes, creating a strong postcard "wish you were here" feeling. Exact Date of production is unknown.

"Pup Birth" captures the excitement, chaos, and tenderness between a dog and her newly-born litter of puppies. In intimate close-up, the puppies crawl around and nuzzle with their mother, mirroring JoAnn Elam's own affection for dogs and animals in general. The date of production remains unknown.

Elam's husband prepares vegetables at the sink.

Contrasting environments, in and outside.

JoAnn Elam's unfinished project, EVERYDAY PEOPLE (filmed from 1979 to 1990), is based on her experiences as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service in Chicago (primarily the Logan Square neighborhood). Camera in hand, Elam follows co-workers as they deliver the mail throughout various Chicago neighborhoods. Elam's construction of this film-in-progress creates a lovely cadence and rhythm that transforms the repetitive motions of the postal worker -- pushing the mail cart, carrying the bag, avoiding the dogs, opening the gates, and climbing the steps to the front door -- to something poetic yet startlingly familiar. Their stories (heard mostly in voice-over) are those of everyday people who at the time struggled with issues of race and gender in relationship to their work.

Cleaning supplies and flames.

Sprocket holes moving across the screen.

At home, outdoors. Street shots.

Filmed during the 52nd National Convention of the American National Association of Letter Carriers in August 1980.

It's nice outside, take a stroll in the woods but be careful.

Images of Christmas lights at night, a group of baton-twirlers in the street, postal carriers, kids walking down the street, etc. Exact date of production unknown.