# Water Sark > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Water_Sark > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Water_Sark.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Sark > Source revision: 1353888122 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox film | director = [Joyce Wieland](/source/Joyce_Wieland) | starring = Joyce Wieland | cinematography = Joyce Wieland | studio = Corrective Films | released = {{Film date|1965}} | runtime = 13 minutes }} '''''Water Sark''''' is a 1965 [experimental](/source/experimental_film) short film by Canadian artist [Joyce Wieland](/source/Joyce_Wieland). ==Description== ''Water Sark'' begins with opening credits made out of paper letters placed on a lamp. Wieland's reflection is briefly seen, showing her holding an [8 mm](/source/8_mm_film) camera. The film captures several items on a table: a teapot, a bowl, a glass of water, plastic flowers, and a fern. These objects are explored visually as Wieland uses water, mirrors, and camera movements to manipulate the image.{{cite journal |last=Armatage |first=Kay |author-link=Kay Armatage |year=1987 |title=The Feminine Body: Joyce Wieland's ''Water Sark'' |journal=[Canadian Woman Studies](/source/Canadian_Woman_Studies) |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=84–88}} After this initial passage, Wieland's body appears among the other visual elements. Additional objects are introduced. A prism and lens are introduced are used to reshape the image, and Wieland begins to play with rubber gloves, a toy boat, a magnifying glass, and transparent plastic. The film closes with a shot of water being grazed by Wieland's fingers. ==Production== Wieland was an multidisciplinary artist who had worked in painting, quilting, and [soft sculpture](/source/soft_sculpture).{{sfn|Lind|2001|p=147–149}} She made ''Water Sark'' while living in New York. Wieland began work in 1963, while completing the films ''Patriotism'' and ''Patriotism Part II''.{{sfn|Elder|1999|p=17}}{{sfn|Nowell|2001|pp=228–229}} She characterized it as a "desperate self-portrait", which she viewed as an extension of her drawing practice.{{sfn|Lind|2001|p=133}} She experimented with [LSD](/source/LSD) during production of the film and described the results as having "to do very much with acid and light".{{sfn|Nowell|2001|p=236}} The film's [experimental jazz](/source/experimental_jazz) soundtrack was recorded by pianist [Carla Bley](/source/Carla_Bley), songwriter [Ray Jessel](/source/Ray_Jessel), and trumpeter [Michael Mantler](/source/Michael_Mantler).{{sfn|Bliss|2020|pp=103–105}} Wieland selected the title ''Water Sark'' because she viewed water as a central element of the film symbolizing creativity and the unconscious. The word ''sark'' was a filler word she associated with boats, but which had no actual meaning. ==Release and reception== The [National Film Board](/source/National_Film_Board) considered distributing the film, but the representative who viewed it became enraged by the image of Wieland's breasts and berated Wieland before chasing her out of the building.{{sfn|Nowell|2001|pp=235–236}} The film received little attention upon its initial release.{{cite magazine |last=La France |first=Samuel |year=2015 |title=Joyce Wieland: Word of Mouth |url=https://cinema-scope.com/features/joyce-wieland-word-of-mouth/ |magazine=[Cinema Scope](/source/Cinema_Scope) |issue=63 |access-date=}}{{cite journal |last=Zemans |first=Joyce |author-link=Joyce Zemans |year=1998 |title=A Tale of Three Women: The Visual Arts In Canada / A Current Account/ing |url= |journal=Canadian Art Review |volume=25 |issue=1/2 |page=107 |jstor=42630597}} [Peter Goddard](/source/Peter_Goddard_(journalist)) wrote that the film's "greatness is that of inspired, intuitive filmmaking, not just great feminist filmmaking."{{cite news |last=Goddard |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Goddard (journalist) |date=February 10, 1996 |title=Screenings focus on Wieland's films |work=[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star) |page=H10}} Paul Arthur suggests that [Hollis Frampton](/source/Hollis_Frampton)'s use of a rubber glove in ''[Poetic Justice](/source/Hapax_Legomena)'' (1972) is a reference to ''Water Sark''.{{sfn|Arthur|2007|p=65}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Arthur |first=Paul |year=2007 |editor-last=Blaetz |editor-first=Robin |chapter=Different/Same/Both/Neither: The Polycentric Cinema of Joyce Wieland |title=Women's Experimental Cinema: Critical Frameworks |publisher=[Duke University Press](/source/Duke_University_Press) |isbn=978-0-8223-4023-2}} * {{cite book |last=Bliss |first=Lauren |year=2020 |title=The Maternal Imagination of Film and Film Theory |publisher=[Palgrave Macmillan](/source/Palgrave_Macmillan) |isbn=978-3-030-45896-6}} * {{cite book |editor-last=Elder |editor-first=Kathryn |year=1999 |title=The Films of Joyce Wieland |publisher=[Toronto International Film Festival Group](/source/Toronto_International_Film_Festival_Group) |isbn=978-0-9682969-2-9}} * {{cite book |last=Lind |first=Jane |year=2001 |title=Joyce Wieland: Artist on Fire |publisher=[James Lorimer & Company](/source/James_Lorimer_%26_Company) |isbn=978-1-55028-695-3}} * {{cite book |last=Nowell |first=Iris |year=2001 |title=Joyce Wieland: A Life in Art |publisher=[ECW Press](/source/ECW_Press) |isbn=978-1-55022-476-4}} {{refend}} ==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal |last=Armatage |first=Kay |author-link=Kay Armatage |year=1989 |title=Joyce Wieland, Feminist Documentary, and the Body of the Work |journal=[Canadian Journal of Political and Social Theory](/source/Canadian_Journal_of_Political_and_Social_Theory) |volume=13 |issue=1/2 |page=98}} * {{cite journal |last=MacDonald |first=Shana |year=2015 |title=Voicing Dissonance: Resistant Soundscapes in 1960s Feminist Experimental Film |journal=Feminist Media Histories |volume=1 |issue=4 |publisher=[University of California Press](/source/University_of_California_Press) |pages=93–96 |doi=10.1525/fmh.2015.1.4.89}} * {{cite journal |last=Rabinovitz |first=Lauren |year=1982 |title=The Development of Feminist Strategies in the Experimental Films of Joyce Wieland |journal=Film Reader |issue=5 |publisher= |pages=133–134}} {{refend}} ==External links== * [https://collections.cfmdc.org/titles/1433 ''Water Sark''] at the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre * {{IMDb title}} {{Joyce Wieland}} Category:1960s avant-garde and experimental films Category:1965 short films Category:Films directed by Joyce Wieland Category:Films without speech Category:Non-narrative films --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Water Sark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Sark) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Sark?action=history)). 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