# The Eternal Frame

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{{Short description|1975 video-based art installation}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
'''''The Eternal Frame''''' (1975) is a video-based art installation documenting the reenactment of the [John F. Kennedy assassination](/source/John_F._Kennedy_assassination) in [Dealey Plaza](/source/Dealey_Plaza) in a collaboration between two San Francisco-based artist collectives: T.R. Uthco (Diane Andrews Hall, Doug Hall, Jody Procter) and [Ant Farm](/source/Ant_Farm_(group)) ([Chip Lord](/source/Chip_Lord), Doug Michels, Curtis Schreier). The artists taking on the roles of [Kennedy](/source/John_F._Kennedy), his wife [Jacqueline](/source/Jacqueline_Kennedy_Onassis), and others, rehearsed extensively to ensure verisimilitude, and when they performed the reenactment, it was executed with a striking attention to detail. While part of the video shows the artists playing on America's obsession with the media (T. R. Uthco's Jody Procter in his role as a [Secret Service](/source/United_States_Secret_Service) agent tells a camera, "We've always been worried about Dallas–it's a rough city, a gun city"), ultimately the video shows that the sacred images of the assassination cannot be mocked. This piece can be seen as a commentary on the pervasive media culture in America, as it explores how the Kennedy assassination itself became a new type of media event.

The title plays on the [eternal flame](/source/John_F._Kennedy_Eternal_Flame) at Kennedy's gravesite.

The work is part of the [Tate](/source/Tate) collection.

== See also ==
* [Zapruder film](/source/Zapruder_film)
* [Assassination of John F. Kennedy in popular culture](/source/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy_in_popular_culture)

== Selected articles ==
*[http://www.pagesmagazine.net/gfx/uploads/PAGES1_fulltxt.pdf ''Deleted Scenes''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710143427/http://www.pagesmagazine.net/gfx/uploads/PAGES1_fulltxt.pdf |date=July 10, 2007 }}, an article written by [Kiarash Anvari](/source/Kiarash_Anvari) published at February 2004 in [http://www.pagesmagazine.net/ ''Pages Magazine''] (page 24)

==External links==
* [http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/t-r-uthco-ant-farm-the-eternal-frame-t13850 Information on ''The Eternal Frame''] at [Tate](/source/Tate) website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eternal Frame}}
Category:Films about the assassination of John F. Kennedy
Category:Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy
Category:Cultural depictions of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Category:American independent films
Category:1975 films
Category:Installation art
Category:Video art
Category:Collection of the Tate galleries
Category:1975 American films

{{1970s-US-film-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Eternal Frame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eternal_Frame) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eternal_Frame?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.