Bruce Conner's "Mea Culpa" film for Eno and Byrne

At Saturday's "This Must Be The Place" post-punk film festival in San Francisco, I was bowled over by Beat filmmaker/photographer/assemblage artist Bruce Conner's 1981 short film for the song "Mea Culpa" from Brian Eno and David Byrne's "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts." Among dozens of other films through his career, Conner's also created "America is Waiting" for the Eno/Byrne song from that same album and "Mongoloid" for Devo in 1978.

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allen bukoff

Very nice. Very Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Ben Kloos

This song and this video are so awesome, it’s been pulled off youtube a few times but I’m glad to see it up again. There’s an intersting story behind the album my life in the bush of ghosts
http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul

One of the best albums ever. Is the “America is Waiting” one out on youtube somewhere? I see one that looks likely, but isn’t fully credited if it’s Conner’s.
PaulDavisTheFirst

and you were bowled over by what, precisely?
victorvictorian

internet serendipity freaks me out sometimes. maybe it’s all the pot or maybe it’s just zeitgeist but i’ve been really into this album again lately, especially this song and Very, Very Hungry. i’ve picked up and put down this album for 30 years now (!) and it always amazes me each time i rediscover it. it’s always sounded ahead of it’s time and over the decades as music has changed i’ve found myself checking in with it to see how it reflects the times and it always comes out ahead.

i did a youtubez search for this very video last week after telling a friend at work how i was in my high school art club in the early 80′s and was lucky enough to see lots of Bruce Conner’s work when going to museums in Calif. and how much he influenced me. the 50′s-60′s torn nylon assemblages were the most punk thing my teenage self had ever seen and it wasn’t until much later in life that i found out just how ‘punk’ Conners was. one of my biggest heros, in temperament if not always in execution.

the sound levels on this video version stink.
http://twitter.com/rootsimple Root Simple

Bruce Connor was one of the greatest artists of the 20th century–all of his other films are amazing too. Thanks for posting!