Editing Serene Velocity (section)

==Analysis and interpretations==
[[File:Serene Velocity.jpg|thumb|right|''Serene Velocity'' shows a [[one-point perspective]] view of the hallway that divides it into the ceiling, walls, floor, and doors.]]
Watching ''Serene Velocity'' produces the appearance of motion and other optical effects, positioning it as a cinematic version of [[op art]]. Gehr has noted that the effects of watching the film vary significantly based on which part of the screen the viewer focuses on.<ref name="MacDonald 2015, p. 236">MacDonald 2015, p. 236.</ref> The composition of the screen is divided into five sections: the ceiling's fluorescent lights and exit signs; the doors, water fountains, and ashtrays on the left and right walls; the reflections on the floor; and the doors in the center of the frame. The perspective lines point to the center of the frame, which would normally be the center of interest, but the motion along the margins of the frame draws attention away.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Perez |first=Gilberto |author-link=Gilberto Perez |date=October 1999 |title=Film in Review |journal=[[The Yale Review]] |volume=87 |issue=4 |page=179}}</ref> Viewing the images as flat, two-dimensional spaces transforms the work into an abstract, flashing sign. Focusing on individual features of the successive images produces the illusion of motion.<ref name="macdonald-film-quarterly"/> The illusion of [[depth perception]] can transform the image into an upright pyramid pointing into or out of the screen.<ref name="cowan-take-one">{{cite magazine |last=Cowan |first=Bob |year=1972 |title=Letter from New York |magazine=[[Take One (Canadian magazine)|Take One]] |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=36–37 }}</ref> Ken Jacobs emphasized this sense of thrusting and described ''Serene Velocity'' as a "sexual metaphor, or sex-become cinema",<ref name="MacDonald 2015, p. 236"/> and [[J. Hoberman]] described it as a "piston-powered mandala".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hoberman |first=J. |author-link=J. Hoberman |year=1995 |chapter=Ernie Gehr: A Walker in the City |title=Ernie Gehr: The 1995 Adaline Kent Award Exhibition |page=12}}</ref>

Critics have often evaluated ''Serene Velocity'' as a [[metacinema]]tic work. [[Noël Carroll]] pointed to the simplified procedure with which it was photographed as an example of [[minimalist cinema]]. Carroll wrote that the film, with its lack of movement, is an argument for "the impression of movement" as the essential characteristic of cinema.<ref name="carroll-jaac">{{cite journal |last=Carroll |first=Noël |author-link=Noël Carroll |year=2006 |title=Philosophizing Through the Moving Image: The Case of ''Serene Velocity'' |journal=[[The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism]] |volume=64 |issue=1 |pages=173–185|doi=10.1111/j.0021-8529.2006.00239.x |doi-access=free }}</ref> Critics have drawn parallels with [[Andy Warhol]]'s 1964 film ''[[Empire (1964 film)|Empire]]'', an extended, continuous shot of the [[Empire State Building]]. Both films advance a philosophical argument with a lack of movement and an emphasis on the recording process.<ref name="carroll-jaac"/><ref>Faucher 2008, p. 195.</ref>

[[Gilberto Perez]] characterized the building's design as a descendant of [[Bauhaus architecture]], calling it "barren and dehumanizing". He interpreted ''Serene Velocity'' as "neither a celebration–nor exactly a condemnation" of Bauhaus minimalism.<ref name="perez">Perez 2006, pp. 284–285.</ref>