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Cut & Paste podcast: Mother’s 1970s Super 8 film is legacy and medium for exploring generations

When William Morris was growing up in St. Louis in the 1970s, his mother was close behind with her Super 8 camera.

Much later, Morris stumbled upon some of her movie-film canisters in the basement of the family home. Soon, the video artist had an idea for his next project, https://vimeo.com/williammorris/videos/page:2/sort:date">something radically different from his usual abstract work.In “Immediacy of Distance,” Morris pairs family footage with additional video to explore the African-American family life of his youth, as well as the Mississippi sharecropping childhood of his mother.

Here’s a short trailer for Morris’ video-in-progress.

Here’s some of what you'll hear from William Morris and Bruno David, in our podcast:

  • William Morris on his mother’s Super 8 filming: “She had the camera in one hand and she had her fist balled up, you know, with the other hand, like she was going to smack you down ... she was multi-tasking.” Tweet #cutpastestl
  • Morris, about what he wishes he’d asked his mother: “She told me that when she was dating, she went out with B.B. King -- and I wanted to hear more about that story.” Tweet #cutpastestl
  • Bruno David on watching “Immediacy”: “You will start to get involved, be part of a family and part of an era that doesn’t exist anymore.” Tweet #cutpastestl
Cut & Paste

Look for new "Cut & Paste" (#cutpastestl) podcasts every few weeks on our website. You can also view all previous podcasts, which focus on a diverse collection of visual and performing artists, and subscribe to “Cut & Paste” through this link.

Follow Willis Ryder Arnold on Twitter: @WillisRArnold

Follow Nancy Fowler on Twitter: @NancyFowlerSTL

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Nancy is a veteran journalist whose career spans television, radio, print and online media. Her passions include the arts and social justice, and she particularly delights in the stories of people living and working in that intersection.