The Books of Ed Ruscha (1969)

This rare foray into filmmaking by the iconic California visual artist opens with Mason Williams the composer of Classical Gas solemnly making himself a drink on a hillside patio at dusk as if performing an incantation Heavy reverb on the soundtrack amplifies every sound until he sits down to read through a stack of Ruschas photography books Twentysix Gas Stations Some Los Angeles Apartments Every Building on the Sunset Strip etc In an overtheshoulder shot we see each page of each book as Mason flips through them briefly contemplating what he sees and reading any available text as a kind distanced recitation Mason punctuates this seeming solemnity with moments of irreverence manhandling at times these limited edition art objects as if they were toss away shopping catalogs as he presses on with his appointed task