Invisible Cinema

Image of the day . . .

  

credit:  Blue Mountain, 1908-1909. Oil on canvas, 41 3/4 x 38 inches. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Founding Collection, Gift, Solomon R. Guggenheim. 41.505. Vasily Kandinsky © 2007 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris.

Winged Distance/Sightless Measure: A conversation - Michael Guillen and Robert Beavers

Two poets of the cinema discuss cinema and life!  Michael Guillen and Robert Beavers compose an interview so expansive, esoteric, ocular, open-hearted, and mythic; you will never be the same!  :)

Winged Distance/Sightless Measure:  A Conversation with Robert Beavers, Part One

Winged Distance/Sightless Measure:  A Conversation with Robert Beavers, Part Two

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A few excerpts:

Michael Guillen:  I was walking to my bus stop and there was a pigeon on the sidewalk and --as I drew near--the pigeon startled and took flight and there was that sound of the flapping wings which runs throughout your films.  I immediately saw a flash of images from your films.  I saw the image of your film layered upon the surface of the world.  That association and layering of meaning onto the physical world is a quality of psychoid consciousness.  It's a way of living in the world where everything means something of personal value.  I have to thank you for adding onto that natural phenomenon a cerebral overlay.

Robert Beavers:  Cerebral?

Michael Guillen:  Cerebral and emotional, as in emotional intelligence.

Rober Beavers:  And sensuous?

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Robert Beavers:  . . . It is an intuitive searching and the central part of the filming as it develops.  In a number of films--I know which ones--I can feel that I did not really know what I was doing.  This must be true of many people.  There are probably artists and composers and others who do know what they're doing; but I'm one of those mixtures:  I know what I'm doing, I'm thinking certain things, and then I also don't know what I'm doing.

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Robert Beavers:  All the filmmakers of my kind of filmmaking are using our elements to express what we either cannot or do not want to express in words; we want to give you another experience.

La Danse by Frederick Wiseman -- official trailer

La Danse by Frederick Wiseman is an exquisite, riveting document of The Paris Opera Ballet.  Each movement of each dancer is a visual phrase, each creating a new poem.  I was enthralled by the precise, fluid physical expression and the intricate creative process of the dancers and choreographers.  The sublime, wise Brigitte Lefèvre, Artistic Director, is a captivating figure as well.  I admire her so much. 

Of course, I was seduced by the aerial photography of Paris and the cadences of the French language, second nature to me now after all of the films I've seen!  :)  I am beginning to understand that cinema is a journey that leads to all the world . . .

See it now! (The ticket is much more affordable than a flight to Paris! :)

I Knelt beside a Stream -- Leonard Cohen

"I knelt beside a stream which was manifesting on a polished wooden floor in an apartment above Central Park.  A feathered shield was fastened to my left forearm.  A feathered helmet was lowered on my head.  I was invested with a duty to protect the orphan and the widow.  This made me feel so good I climbed on Alexandra's double bed and wept in a general way for the fate of men.  Then I followed her into the bathroom.  She appeared to turn gold.  She stood before me as huge as the guardian of the harbour.  How had I ever thought of mastering her?  With a hand of chrome and an immense Gauloise cigarette she suggested that I give up and worship her, which I did for ten years.  Thus began the obscene silence of my career as a lady's man."

--Leonard Cohen

Icons of the Desert, Grey Art Gallery, Sept. 1 - Dec. 5, 2009

I just returned from the Grey Art Gallery, Icons of the Desert: Early Aboriginal Paintings from Papunya. I was mesmerized and dazzled at discovering something so new to me . . . I have no words!  Check out the site for the virtual exhibit!  

 
Children's Water Dreaming (Version 2), Shorty Lungkarta Tjungurrayi (Pintupi, 1920-1987)

"This delicate composition is the first of several works by Shorty Lungkarta that appear to be linked to the unusually wet winter of mid-1972.  The painting most likely depicts Shorty's birthplace of Lapintjanya, near Lake Macdonald west of Papunya, with the central roundel indicating Lampintjanya's waterhole, a claypan, and the overlapping whorls -- as fine as cobwebs -- depicting water running in the creek. . . "

" . . . this is a common way of disguising in public the presence of a sacred object by presenting its more mundane derivative." -- Fred Myers

NY Marathon, 2009

  

Bedford Ave., Brooklyn -- NY Marathon 2009

photo by:  Jennifer MacMillan

Image of the day . . .

 

Photo credit:  Max Vadukul

What is poetry? Part 6

The following excerpts are from, THE HAND OF POETRY: Five Mystic Poets of Persia, translated by Coleman Barks.  This poetry is so astounding, revelatory, and awe-inspiring, it has turned my world upside down!  :)  Too beautiful not to share!!!

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bewildered, and without
guidance, I ran, as from a burning house,
onto a narrow, upward-spiraling path.

Dangerous cliffs, the summit far off.
My only hope was to die.

Then through that dim murkiness,
I saw an old man with a radiant face.

‘You are the moon!’ I called out.
‘Where did you come from?’

‘I am beyond substance and space.
I am creation’s cause, here to lead you
back to your home.  Hold close,
and let my fire consume you.  Don’t be afraid
of losing your strength here.  This fire
is one which has a spring of eternal water
inside it.  As your animal-soul dies,
your new soul will be born.
Live humbly with me, and I will
raise you into majesty.’

He talked more to me in silence,
without using syllables.  He gave me
love and light and eyes to see,
and together we set out.

-A Soul's Journey through the Time-Worlds, Sanai

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If you want the pearl,
leave the inland desert,
and wander by the sea.

Even if you don’t find it,
at least you’ve been
near the water.

--Energetic Work, Sanai

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I met a woman
once and asked her where love had led her.
‘Fool, there’s no destination to arrive at.
Loved one and lover and love are infinite.’

--Mysticism, Attar

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Without speaking, the answer came, ‘This majesty
is a mirror.  If you approach as thirty birds,
that’s what you will find.  Forty or fifty
birds would come and see forty and fifty.

And although you are now completely changed,
you see yourselves as you were before.

You did well to be astounded and impatient
and doubting and full of wonder.

Lose yourselves in me joyfully,
and you will find yourselves.’

And they did, as a shadow disappears
in sunlight, and that is all.

--The Conference of the Birds, Attar

Filmmaker Captures the Many Sides of Leonard Cohen!

"Documentarian Murray Lerner -- who had been nominated for an Oscar for his documentary on the Newport Folk Festival in the 1967 film, FESTIVAL, -- was there to capture the entire event and has recently extracted Cohen's performance in a DVD/CD combo entitled, Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970.

'I wanted to show that relationship to the crowd,' Lerner tells Spinner, 'and how that seemingly obscure poetry was so well received. He was surprisingly successful.  He was at such a tense moment.' -- M.L.

The International Poetic Short Film Festival, Mon. Oct. 19

                                                         

I'll be screening my video, FACES IN THE FLOWERS, as part of The International Poetic Short Film Festival at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.  This program was curated by Jose Antonio.  Stop by and say hello! :)

The International Poetic Short Film Festival -- 8PM Mondays October 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2009 at The Nuyorican Poets Café, 236 E. 3rd St., NY, NY (tickets $10)

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Vision has no boundaries.

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The International Poetic Short Film Festival is dedicated to the great Puerto Rican Activist, Poet, Actor, Playwright and Humanitarian, Bimbo Rivas. IPSFF will be held Mondays October 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2009 at The NUYORICAN Poets Café located at 236 East 3rd Street New York, NY 10009 "Poetic Film is a combination of expressive image and sound. It is original and personal. It need not be about poetry and yet, it can be set to poetry. It is lyrical, dreamlike, expresses new ideas, evokes emotion, triggers thought and heightens spirit. If we are fortunate, Poetic Film may some day be uncovered for us to discover." The International Poetic Short Film Festival is committed to maintaining the visionary standards set forth by great filmmakers e.g. Buñuel, Fellini, Herzog, Hitchcock, Kurosawa, Kubrick, Bergman, Lang, Welles, etc. We aim to encourage the Artists to remain true to their vision while holding out against the clutches of commercialism. Our hope is to retain the power of film media to move the spirit, expand the mind and inspire social change. We welcome you to the poetry of film to see, listen and experience the spirit of the remarkable.