Necromancia

1971 • Directed by

Beryl Sokoloff

Sokoloff’s and Grauer’s first major collaborative work, Necromancia, is a tableau vivant that combines enlightenment formalism with carnivalesque wackiness. A plastic toy strongman, his head replaced with that of a toy horse, drives a carriage pulled by a plastic stegosaurus. He is a kind of Master of Ceremonies in an anatomical realm made of plastic body parts, mylar sheeting, magazine cut-outs, and servo motors. Motors, which seem to bridge Grauer’s sculpture and Sokoloff’s film, also power a rotating stage displaying a similarly wide range of assembled toy parts. Asynchronously intercut with footage of Grauer’s art are Sokoloff’s signature New York cityscapes: skyscrapers, street performers, Greco-Roman municipal buildings, and Coney Island amusement rides.