Post #2853451

Singer-songwriter and artist Adam Green views the legendary polymath Harry Smith as an inspiration, frequently curating talks and screenings exploring Smith's surreal, alchemical approach to art and sound. Green’s explorations into Smith's work encompass several specific angles and themes: Alchemical Cinema & Occultism: Green’s lectures treat Harry Smith's landmark cut-out film Heaven & Earth Magic (1962) as an initiatory experience. He frequently discusses how Smith utilized Kabbalah, alchemy, and ritualistic imagery to transform human perception and bypass traditional narratives. The Anthology as Magic: Green has explored Smith's highly influential Anthology of American Folk Music not just as a music collection, but as a "magical instrument." He argues that by curating and sequencing marginalized Americana, Smith intentionally altered American culture. Connection to his Own Practice: Green credits Smith's span of interests—ranging from poetry to folk music and experimental cinema—as a massive influence on his own "world-making" and creative ventures. In this short videäo from last week's retrospective on the life and work of Harry Smith, put on by the Harry Smith Archive in New York, Green is speaking about Anthology of American Folk Music (1952). Anthology of American Folk Music is a three-volume compilation album released in August 1952 by Folkways Records. It was compiled by American polymath Harry Smith from his own collection of 78 rpm records. It consists of eighty-four recordings of American folk, blues and country music made and issued from 1926 to 1933 by a variety of performers, divided into three categories: "ballads", "social music", and "songs".