The Mesmerist

Bill Morrison (born in Chicago, November 17, 1965) is a New York-based filmmaker and artist, best known for his experimental collage film Decasia (2002). He is a member of Ridge Theater and the founder of Hypnotic Pictures. He attended Reed College 1983-85, and graduated from Cooper Union School of Art in 1989.

Bill Morrison’s films have been screened at festivals, museums and concert halls worldwide, including the Sundance Film Festival, the Orphan film Symposium, The Tate Modern, London, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles. Eight of his titles have been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. He has been commissioned to create films for some of the most important composers of his time, including John Adams, Gavin Bryars, Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell, Michael Gordon, Henryk Gorecki, Vijay Iyer, David Lang, Harry Partch, Steve Reich and Julia Wolfe. Morrison is a Guggenheim fellow and has received the Alpert Award. He has received grants from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Creative Capital and The National Endowment for the Arts. His work with Ridge Theater has been recognized with two Bessie awards and an Obie Award.

Decasia, his feature-length collaboration with composer Michael Gordon, was noted by J. Hoberman of the Village Voice as “the most widely acclaimed American avant-garde film of the fin-de-siècle.” The director Errol Morris commented while viewing Decasia that “This may be the greatest movie ever made”. The film was commissioned by the Basel Sinfonietta to be shown on three screen surrounding the musicians. Its DVD release is entitled Decasia: The State of Decay. —Wikipedia