Screening of 8 masterworks by Stan Brakhage

Thu 30 Sep 2010, 3 – 5 pm
DOCLAB

DOCLAB writes:
8 masterworks of Stan Brakhage- an American non-narrative filmmaker will be presented.

Working completely outside the mainstream, Brakhage created a large and diverse body of work over a half century – all of which reflect his interests in mythology, music, poetry and visual phenomena. Challenging all taboos in his exploration of “birth, sex, death, and the search for God,” he has turned his camera on explicit lovemaking, childbirth, even autopsy.

A narrative film creates an arc of expectation that sets up conflicts and tensions the viewer expects to have resolved — or at least, lead to some form of conclusion. Brakhage’s films are organized according to a precisely opposite principle. There is no overarching or predictable form; his emphasis is on each instant of perception. The process of viewing a Brakhage film becomes part of the film’s subject; in answer to the passivity encouraged by a mainstream commercial narrative movie, Brakhage requests active participation. Relaxing one’s perceptions when the lights dim, as many movie viewers are accustomed to doing, won’t work here: one must learn to see faster, more precisely, and more deeply.

Warning: Some material may be inappropriate or offensive for viewers.

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