tomorrow: the real cultural litmus test

[manny at telerama.com]

Actually, from what an informed filmmaker told me last night, that could
well be the best choice ;)

If you are not aware of filmmaker Stan Brakhage, he is *the* seminal
giant of experimental film from the late 50s on (yes, despite film being a
medium since the turn of the century, it was the *last* art form to have
an avantgarde - decades after music, literature and visual arts etc)
Brakhage's films (such as the legendary flicker films)
were almost all entirely silent and made to stay that way, without a
soundtrack. Experimental film purists/experts feel that accompanying a
Brakhage film with a live soundtrack - which he didn't intend, and even
expressly disdained - is doing a disservice to this man's important body
of work. Especially when the group *names* itself after the film it's
accompanying (Text of Light). Apparently whatever 'respect' Lee Ranaldo 
and company are lending to Brakhage is misplaced in that regard. And
Filmmakers, jumping at the chance to present a packed, money-making
venture, is complicit in this, even though some of its people should know
better.

There has been a retro trend for years wherein instrumental artists such
as Gary Lucas (The Golem), Clubfoot Orchestra (Metropolis) and Alloy
Orchestra accompany silent films with original soundtracks. And that is
a different thing, since at least these films were originally accompanied
by some sort of live music when they were shown back in the day. But
Brakhage's films were never intended to have accompaying sound (if you
buy the available Brakhage DVD of his work, it's all silent). So it seems
that Filmmakers is merely capitalizing on the popular silent film trend
and trying to make money from it like the Cultural Trust does, but with
enough of an edge to make it seem 'experimental.'

Of course, you can make up your own mind about this issue. But keep this
in mind: you know full well that Pittsburgh Filmmakers would not be
presenting this ensemble if it was just a musical performance and not
film-related. Is it fair to use an ensemble of prominent experimental
music luminaries to draw attention (i.e crossover) to the work of an
experimental filmmaker? I would say it couldn't hurt. But then Brakhage's
work is compromised as a result.

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003, B wrote:

> On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 manny at telerama.com wrote:
> 
> > this time, which show one chooses should be extremely indicative of
> > one's cultural mentality. ;)
> 
> I choose neither!  w00t!
> 
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