Dtk 20th August 2017
Stan Brakhage: Not naming what is seen
A selection from the colossus of visionary filmmaking, Stan Brakhage (1933-2003), prehaps the best known of all artist filmmakers, he produced over 360 films ranging in length from 30 seconds to four hours. Here we experience seven films from his output of five decades, designed to show his immense mastery of technique and his refusal to be limited by any preconceived notions of the visual experience.
Sirius Remembered (US/ 1959 /16mm / 11mins)
Emulating the way a dog might dance and howl around a corpse, Brakhage films the decaying body of his dog Sirius over a period of six months. A beautiful eulogy to the loss of a loved being.
Creation (US/ 1979/16mm/16mins)
An ecstatic, mythic montage of Alaskan landscapes – green ice covering the rocks, the feeling of the cut, the compression of a glacier, red flowers in dark light, dark blue lights, tall trees with creeping fog, ice, water, mosses, golden light. A visual symphony.
Four short sound films (US / 1987-92/ 16mm/ 18mins) :
Kindering , Christ Mass Sex Dance, Crack Glass Eulogy, Loud Visual Noises. With sound contributions by Die Totliche Doris, Zoviet France, Nurse With Wound, The Hafler Trio, Joel Haertling , Jim Tenney and I.H.T.S.O. Brakhage hand paints, superimposes and dances with his camera in this clutch of films which unusually incorporate sound.
Lovesong (US / 2001/ 16mm/ 11mins)
A hand-painted elaborately step-printed work which utilizes light transparencies in combination with light bounced directly off individual film frames; representations of body parts gradually entwining, separating and re-combining again and again, sexual organs represented in dark outlines which often ‘explode’ into black sperm-marks surrounding multi-coloured egg-likenesses.
Greg Pope. 