CalArts Faculty & Staff Center - People: Profiles

After I asked Thom to describe himself to me in three words, I sat on the other end of the phone for what seemed like an hour. He finally asked if I would mind holding while he grabbed his press book to see what words other people use to describe him. When he returned, he read a quote from an article written about him in the New York Times that he dubbed "unflattering," but then retracted his statement after "tall and prematurely gray" had sunk in. "Well," he said, "I guess it's a little flattering; even though, 'a narrow frame that resembles a squished cartoon character' doesn't exactly correspond to my self-image."

"You handled that with ease, Thom." I laughed, "Do I dare ask you about your pet-peeves?"

Turns out this Virgo has a million. One being the bewilderment he harbors for those who don't know about Jack Smith. I squirmed in my chair and quickly apologized for adding more unwanted frustration to our conversation, but admitted that Jack Smith was a stranger to me as well. Thom chuckled and assured me that it wasn't my fault, and that somewhere along the way my education was flawed. "Where did you go to school anyway?" he asked. I think that's when his hesitation to answer more than a handful of questions seemed to grow, although I did manage to squeeze out Samuel Beckett's Molloy as his favorite book - which isn't easy for Thom to narrow down. "Every one should read it," he said. "In fact, I'm reading it for a second time now."

So when this prematurely gray cartoon character isn't captivated by Molloy, he's teaching contemporary cinema and film composition to a presumably large number of well-stimulated students. He couldn't give me a favorite color (although I'm willing to bet that it's black), and though he may have been relieved when I was done meddling in his life, you would've never known with his gentle goodbye.

Who is Jack Smith?

Jack Smith (1932 - 1989) was a writer, photographer, actor, and film director considered to be one of the pioneers of underground cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. He is also generally thought of as a founder of American Performance Art. Smith's aesthetics came to be known as "Camp" and "Trash" as his cinematic universe featured elements of Hollywood kitsch, Orientalism and the drag culture. His most famous films are Flaming Creatures and Normal Love. Smith's work influenced the films of Andy Warhol and John Waters, as well as other artists including Laurie Anderson, Cindy Sherman, Lou Reed and David Byrne. Theatre legend Richard Foreman writes, "Jack Smith is the hidden source of practically everything that's of any interest in the so-called experimental theatre today."