Teatime with Arnulf Rainer

On Monday evening I met with filmmaker/projectionist/all around cool guy, Paul Shepherd, for an interview specifically pertaining to the circular celluloid tattoo on his arm.  (No, we were not in prison.)  Here's what happened . . .

J:  Hi Paul, can you tell me about this tattoo?  It looks like it reads as "Garnulf Rainer."  What's that?

Paul:  Does it really look like a "G"?

J:  I’m guessing, but I can definitely read “Arnulf.”

Paul:  Good.

J: What does it mean?

Paul:  It’s the name of the film.  But the film is the name of a person, a painter, Austrian, maybe German, I don’t remember.  The film is by Peter Kubelka.  It’s the film that changed my life.  When I saw that, I knew experimental film was the area I had to be involved in.

J:  Wow!  I haven’t seen this film.

Paul:  Really?  It’s so amazing.  They show it annually at Anthology.

J:  Why should I see this movie?

Paul:  Because I said so.  Just kidding.  I think that it’s the earliest flicker film that I know of, made in 1960.  Flicker film is really important because . . .

J:  Because it rocks our worlds?

Paul:  Sure.

J:  But why have this on your arm?

Paul:  It’s a constant reminder of where it all started for me.  Flicker films are my favorite kinds of films.  In two ways it’s my start:  making flicker films & getting into experimental cinema.

J:  That’s really cool.  I think that the beginning, however it is defined, will be with us forever.  Can you tell me more about Peter Kubelka?  I know little about him except that he was one of the founders of the Invisible Cinema!

Paul:  He’s an Austrian filmmaker, one of the founders of Anthology, friends with Jonas Mekas & Stan Brakhage.  And I met him!

J:  What was that like?

Paul:  I was in London at the time.  Mark Webber, who if you see an experimental film screening in London, he’ll have a part in organizing it . . . He got Peter Kubelka to come to the London Film Festival in 2001.  (Paul plays with b/w cat lounging nearby.) He had four lectures, and I was awestruck.  Afterward, I went up and introduced myself, and I asked for a copy of Arnulf Rainer, he gave me his email address, and then I contacted him for a print, and never got a reply.  I still have the email address!

J:  So the tattoo was after this meeting?

Paul:  It was quite a bit after.

J:  Did it hurt?

Paul:  Uh-huh, quite a bit, I actually had to lie down to get it, because when I was sitting up, I had to stop every two minutes and take a breather,  I was feeling light headed.

J:  Because it really hurt?

Paul:  It hurt, but really I’m not good with needles.

J:  Peter Kubelka should appreciate this. :)  Then what happened?

Paul:  I got the tattoo in two separate sessions.

J:  And the tattoo goes around the entire circumference of your arm?

(Paul shows me the tattoo, and it goes all the way around his arm like a ribbon.)

J:  So where can I see this film, other than Anthology?

Paul:  You could probably rent it from the Filmmakers Coop or the Donnell Library.

J:  My heart is really loyal to Tony Conrad.  What is different about this film?

Paul:  I had not seen Tony Conrad's film until after I got the tattoo.  Arnulf Rainer precedes The Flicker by 5 or 6 years.

J:  Okay . . .

Paul:  The Flicker is amazing in its own rite, but it’s very different than Arnulf Rainer.  The Flicker is a scientific study of visual perception, the visual cortex, purely.  Where as Arnulf Rainer is more of a play between sight and sound.  The film disorients the connection you have between these two senses.

J:  Do you have a message for Peter Kubelka?

Paul:  Thank you.

J:  Thank you, Paul.

The end.

Comments

[Zach]

Just when you think you get a handle on the NYC cinephile scene, you realize once again that there are a ton of exceptionally cool people you don't know. And I can't believe I missed the last Anthology/Kubelka screening. Good interview, J!

[jmac]

Hey Zach, this is such a nice comment. It was my first interview! I should have asked Paul about his flicker films, because they are really beautiful, sublime. I missed the Peter Kubelka sreening too. Next time!

[Huckleberry]

I was just wondering if anyone has sent this to Kubelka yet?

[jmac]

P. darling, I don't know if the readership extends that far, although our invisible cinema readers are the most beautiful in the universe! Maybe you are meant to email Peter Kubelka.