Wax or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees
Wax or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees is the first independent feature film by American filmmaker and artist David Blair. It was also the first film on the Internet. Synopsis. Blair performs in the film, which additionally features a cameo by William Burroughs. As an anti-war statement, "Wax" provided an early critique of the Gulf War and current-day drone warfare. A combination of innovative digital animation, found footage, and live action, "Wax"’s visual form is a unique representation of the technologies and politics that it critiques , which still reverberate today. Production. "Wax or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees" and "Waxweb" have been supported by substantial grants, co-production, and international sales. Grants for this project include three awards from the New York State Council for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, American Film Institute, Jerome Foundation, and Checkerboard Foundation. Reception. Released in 1991, "Wax" was a cult hit, playing cinemas in 26 U.S. cities and had additional theatrical play in Japan and Australia. "Wax" was a co-production with ZDF, German Television, and opened theatrically to rave  reviews at the Public Theater in New York. "Wax" was included in a number of 10 Best Film lists that year. Legacy. As the first film streamed across the Internet in 1993, the "New York Times" declaring "Wax or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees" an “historic event.” That same year, the hypermedia version of the film, "Waxweb", was one of the first sites on the World Wide Web, and thus has been repeatedly cited as a milestone of Internet Art. "Waxweb" has been presented in museums worldwide. "Wax or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees" was an  early example of digital cinema, was one of the first independent films to be edited on a digital non-linear system, the Montage Picture Processor, and transferred from video to film for theatrical presentation.