Vidéolettres

Between February and June 1991, Robert Kramer and Steve Dwoskin exchanged several video-letters (four from Kramer, three from Dwoskin), in Hi8 format. Those from Kramer – the first three entitled “Hi, Steve” and the fourth “Robert to Steve” – are dated the 18 February (15 min.), 23 February (19 min.), 1 April (12 min.) and 5 June (21 min.) respectively. The three from Dwoskin, entitled “Dear Robert”, are dated 28 February (14 min.), 7-13 March (20 min.) and April-June (23 min.).
Robert Kramer’s complicity with Stephen Dwoskin, as expressed in these four letters, corresponds to the spirit of research that the filmmaker maintained throughout his œuvre…

«The video-letters to Steve, that was great. I don’t remember how we started doing it. It was in the shadow of Berlin (Berlin 10/90). I like this idea of shooting without editing, of making it in the camera. I have the impression that if you become good, you sense what you’re doing so much that the other steps are not as necessary. When you describe the process – shooting without filming too much, editing and putting all the bits together, tending towards an increasingly fragmented editing to re-discover what you have there -, I’m not sure that really happens like that.” Robert Kramer in Points de départ de Bernard Eisenschitz – Ed. de l’image, 2001