After viewing the criterion collection’s stan brakhage dvd again, i confirmed the most obvious things while other questions/personal reflections flooded in. I suppose right now, as i’m really immersed in one piece, i haven’t been reflecting as much, so when i get the chance to, it really floods out.
So the clear thing is this: for me its to be viewed like abstract expressionist art, especially his studies, which are my favorite, and almost systematically appear in his longer more well known “dog star man”. But beyond these quick moving films there are also these studies in light.
Whats interesting is how he begins combining these two very different elements later on.
One very unavoidable feature of his films are the quick motion or the complete lack of motion, as if its either one or the other. Of course there is so much variation to find in the details, but i can’t help but be overwhelmed by the larger scale consistencies. I wonder why he was against less abrupt transitions- with all the time he took, he could’ve done these rather uniquely. Theres a lot more to say, and i should remember the films…i’ll post on this again. Wikipedia link
