Chronicles: Family Diaries
1971-1973 (Excerpts), 68 minutes
The Chronicles define Auder's practice as a body
of work. The Chronicles are autobiographical chapters documenting the
events, people and places which have constituted his life. They consist
of sequences culled from hours of raw footage. Stylistically, Auder
is not so much interested in capturing events as much as he is allowing
them to unfold so that the character of a given situation or subject
can express itself unconsciously through the many details of its context.
The Family Diaries are amongst his earliest footage.
For many of his first endeavors as a ”video artist”, Auder
would find a means to recycle small portions of this footage, inserting
segments into discreetly composed art works such as Made For Denise
and Chasing The Dragon.
Over time, however, Chronicles: Family Diaries have
become works in themselves. Much of the earliest footage represents
a collaboration with Viva, his wife of the time and former Warhol star.
One of their projects was to vividly document the
birth and early years of their daughter Alexandra.
Although portions of the Chronicles: Family Diaries
1971-1973 (Exerpts) documents the hectic nature of the couples life
(Viva had not only recently given birth but also published a memoir
entitled Superstar) the greater part of these excerpts is given over
to intimate scenes of mother and child.
The final excerpts star Alexandra at age two in what
could only be dubbed a real life version of Lord of the Flies.