Larry Gottheim’s Tree of Knowledge

762 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA, 94110

Tree of Knowledge (Elective Affinities, Part IV), 1981, 57 min., color, sound, Bay Area premiere— Larry Gottheim’s fourth feature-length film concludes one of the most ambitious avant-garde projects in recent years, Elective Affinities, beginning with a Prelude (Horizons, 1971-73) and continuing with a Trilogy (Mouches Volantes, 1976, Four Shadows, 1978). These works form one of the most complex examinations of the creative interplay between the structuring of sound and imagery ever attempted on film. Of Four Shadows, Scott MacDonald wrote: “It is Gottheim’s careful juxtaposition of the complex visuals and sounds… which make the film so fascinating, for their multileveled interactions create a web of relationships of so many kinds and intensities that I was simply swept through the eight sections of the film.” Tree Of Knowledge was included in the 1981 Whitney Biennial Film Program.

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