Zug Magazine, B & W #5

"The Private Life of a Cat by Alexander Hammid (born Alexandr Hackenschmied) and Maya Deren 'is an intricate study of a female cat and the birth and maturation of her five kittens." A silent film shot in 1947 in black and white, it is a shadow play made up of soft pigmentation and muted shades, stripes and reflections of light bouncing off patterned fur and angular walls. Fuzzy whites and luminous eyes, glistening whiskers and edges of gleaming teeth and tiny pale bodies nuzzle as they scatter amongst the solid greys and soft blacks of their mother. Monochromaticity. Somewhat hat sharper and clearer are the reversed dark waves of the Atlantic, foaming and crashing to shore and back, interwoven with the body of Deren lying in the sand in At Land (1944). The sooty curls of her hair and dress affirm the tone of the waves exactly and the tiny wings of the birds above her correspond to the blacks of her eyes. The shadows of the tree stump on the beach, her hands climbing, the chandelier reflecting its convex rays and the smoke trails rising up into voluptuous clouds, incandescent illuminated heads. She moves and casts shapes with her limbs on the pristine tablecloth. Suddenly we see foliage, glimpses of a face and those ink-like eyes and curls again, transparent and raven, on the table amongst the guests. Through shrubbery, high and low light interchange profusely over her visage and, like radiant masks, opaque mouths move within their ashen circles. An ebony clothed body with porcelain skin writhes further and further across the banquet, satiny dark pupils looking for someone ahead of her the black and white chequered chess board, the squares and the white king, black rook, white bishop, black knight and white pawn - pinning and forking, deflecting and interfering. The pawn falls into the water, flows through the sparkling current of the stream, her silhouette dancing on the rocks as she chases it, their surfaces speckled in reliefs, searching for the piece. Her hair shines white as she stands under the burning sun. Walking, talking, a man, a woman, bodies and mouths with the light softly whipping the skin of their faces and frames, enhancing the forms of their contours. Cheekbones and lips exaggerated. Inside a house, darker still, white covers, new shapes evolve. The surrealistic game of two lovers, with the man continuously taking on new figures, pale sheeted and morbid now. She studies and pursues him or something ungraspable, and so it goes on. The search marked by ritual, through anachronistic scenes, ever dancing in a sea of shades, hues and reflections. Monochromaticity." - publishers description.

This book can be found in ICP Library