Fertile Image Working Surface

A Disturbingly Elegant Bit of Filmmaking

I disurbing yet very will executed piece of filmmaking I ran into this afternoon; Here is the filmmakers description of his intent:

Playing time 8 1/2 minutes. Metachaos, from Greek Meta (beyond) and Chaos (the abyss where the eternally formless state of the universe hides), indicates a primordial shape of amoeba, which lacks precise morphology and is characterized by mutation and mitosis. In fact the bodies represented in Metachaos, even though they are characterized by an apparently anthropomorphous appearance, are without identity and conscience. They exist in a spaceless and timeless state. It is a multidisciplinary audio-visual project, articulated in a short film, in a set of photography and mixed-technique paintings. The purpose of the project is to represent the most tragic aspects of human nature, such as war, madness, social change and hate.

JEM COHEN

It's late and I should at least be in bed if not already asleep but I have been on the net for awhile and came across some work by Jem Cohen, a filmmaker whose work I appreciate. Here is one of his shorts documenting the Occupy Movement.

 

Brent Greene

Brent Greene is an animator whose work I really like. Here is a short story about his aunt who came to live with his family when he was a boy. Check it out. 

Thoughts About Photography & Reality

Am I The Only One Here? 2009

Photography presents a gift and a problem for our society. The gift is the ability to document events and places for people to refer to that can then aid in expanding their vision of the world, but the strikingly literal representation that photographs portray can often mislead us into arriving at conclusions that are less than factual. The photograph (unlike a painting) depicts its subject so clearly as to give the illusion of reality when nothing could be further from the truth because the truth of any circumstance can only be derived when context is part of the equation. The split second that is portrayed in a photograph without surrounding context, at best can only pose questions about the scene or people involved. It is never the answer. Therefore photographic recording is truly always an art form and not the stoic method of documentation that it is often thought to be.

In many of my photographs I purposely seek to interrupt the illusion of reality by adding things or using devices that deny the truth or illusion of reality of the scene depicted.  I am curious about finding other ways to explore the interrupting of percieved photographic reality even further as I continue to produce photographic art.   

Ken Jacobs

When I was in college Ken Jacobs  was one of my professors. At the same time Nicholas Ray was teaching in the film department as well which of course was an unlikely match in such a small department as the one at SUNY Binghamton. In the end I got attracted to glitz that surround Nick and strayed away from the courses taught by Ken which I regret to this day.

But nonetheless I still remember sitting in Ken's classes, which were held in a large lecture hall, watching movies of all different types from the avant-garde films of Jack Smith and Stan Brakhage to hollywood films like Nick Ray's Lusty Men. It was those classes with Ken that created my interest in film and though I strayed off into a rather bumpy career in television I have never forgotten what his insights led me to believe about filmmaking and the world we live in. Last night I watched an interview with Ken Jacobs on Youtube talking about his films and filmmaking and I was reinvigorated. I hope you enjoy it too.     

an interesting problem

"Reporter" - Psychic Numbing from Facing History and Ourselves on Vimeo.

 

Anna Deavere Smith

Roy Lewis and the Obama Decisive Moment

The Prince George's County African American Museum at the Gateway Arts Center in Brentwod MD hosted a reception last friday for the photography of Roy Lewis. Roy's work is well known to many people in the arts community and the fact that there are some great photos in the show should be no surprise to anyone, but there was one relatively new piece that caught my eye and that I would like to bring to the attention of folks who might not otherwise see the show. It is a large print of a photograph of President Obama and a young African American boy of maybe seven or eight years old that is so full of the power of the decisive moment that it almost brought tears to my eyes. For me this photograph embodied all of what the Obama presidency is about. Not what he has already done or may (or may not do) for the country during his term but what he means to so many young people who will follow him into the future. To see this photo is worth the trip to Brentwood. Congratulations to Roy for being at the right place at the right time to press the shutter for this picture to be able to enter into history. Go see the show.

Broadcasting Into Eternity

The Interview Project that David Lynch started last June is done. They interviewed and posted a new person's story every three days for a year ..... and now it's over. This reminds me of the end of "The Making of the Representative for Planet 8" by Doris Lessing. At the end of the book all the people's stories are collected so that they can be left as a relic of a planet that is dying. The closing of this project feels like part of a similar process that is not quite done but is definitely underway, moving towards a complete history;  a memory of all the stories of all the people who lived here on Earth broadcasting into eternity over the internet.  

 

Telling Stories About Thinking

Right here, right now, I'm going to admit that I really don't care much for any medium for it's own sake. What ever I can get my hands on will do which is why I change mediums a lot. After seeing a show of my painting and video work in Atlanta back in the late '90's, the art critic, Jerry Cullum said that I was not a painter or a video artist at all. Instead he characterized me as a person who thought a lot about a lot of things and that I just happened to paint and make videos. My initial reaction was that I was pissed, very pissed. I am an artist not a philosopher was my response .... but since then I have slowly come to embrace his characterization me as the truth. I care more about what it is that compelled me to enter the process than the end result. Duh?  

Since a large part of the time I think more than I act, I am not terribly prolific. For along time I was  very concerned about the big gaps of what appeared to be inactivity but now that I am getting closer to 90 years of age, I understand that thinking is my thing and sharing while very important to me, has to be relegated to an afterthought. Slowly I have come to embrace the notion that since the thinking is the thing my detachment from the actual work is just fine. 

I like to make up and share stories about what I have thought about but haven't been able to resolve and while  the truth  is just out of reach I make things about the thinking. The mystery of it all is what I like even though not finding satisfying answers (which is often the case) can be painful and only poses more questions.

Actually the pieces that result from all the thinking are the residue from something much more wonderful and interesting to me. Ideas that continue to expand and lead to more and questions about life and living.  

Small Town Smoke Stack Bunny Rabbit 2010