October 15, 2009
A place in space for Praczukowski — help identify this week’s Lost and Found Film
Editor’s Note: The UW Audio Visual Services Materials Library has more than 1,200 reels of film from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, documenting life at the University through telecourses, commercial films and original productions. Some of the short films are easily identifiable, but many more remain mysteries. Who shot these films and why? Can you help answer those questions? Faculty and staff can use the comments field at the end of the story to send ideas. Those outside the University can e-mail filmarc@u.washington.edu.
This week’s film, called Praczukowski, features a two-minute interview with an art professor named Edward Praczukowski, who talks about how his art is inspired by outer space. Shot in about 1966, it features an unseen narrator who tells the viewer about the professor and what he is trying to do as we look at scenes in an art class, where the professor confers with students about their work. Then the professor himself speaks and we see him working on his own art.
“Each painting for me is a kind of astronaut adventure,” the professor says.
UW Film Archives Specialist Hannah Palin would like to get Information about the artwork or students in the film. She’s also interested in general information about the UW Art Department in Praczukowski’s era. She said there is other film from the same period on the Digital Collections site and it would be nice to fill in some of the gaps. And as always, she wants to know why this film was made and where it was shown.
Palin heard from people in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences about last week’s film, Salmon Research. According to them, the film showed a combined hydroacoustic and midwater trawl survey for juvenile sockeye salmon in Lake Washington. See last week’s comments for more information.
