there is only everything because nothing isn't anything at all

The reading Stan Brakhage felt optimistic and encouraging. While much of it felt like technical advice, I had a strong appreciation for his attitude that any idea should be explored. I believe he said that much art had been born out of technical inability, and that experimenting with the intent of problem solving opens up far more possibilities than simply “following the rules.” (“many creations are born out of technical inadequacy) No rules thinking starts revolutions (usually chaotic ones). I especially liked that he used mica crystals in his filmmaking. Using crystals on the film or exposing them on film has always been something I have thought about doing. I’m a firm believer that we intrinsically see nature’s patterns to be beautiful. I liked that he asked to reader to write about successful glue types- it just goes to show that a good artist is always looking to expand their tool kit
His personality seemed to shine clearly through his writing. Perhaps I should say his light exposed his picture onto the book ;) I especially enjoyed the title- after giving and taking, what’s left? I never realized until reading the article that film tempo’s are always in even numbers- he gave the examples of 24p and 16p. Atoms with odd numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons, are on the whole less stable than ones with even numbers… The thing he wrote about crystallizing tape with an iron was way cool- I would definitely like to try that kind of thing.
I enjoyed that his work pays far more attention to chemistry than the work of other filmmakers. It’s truly experimental to follow any kind of inkling you have to get the feeling your looking for. I feel like it draws more on the world of inspiration and less on the world of what’s already been done to try and melt things into the film or mix concrete or V8 or god knows what just to see what it looks like. Way cool- its like fuck it, I’m gonna let myself loose and see what happens when I try this. Its less finite- I think it makes it more about the process and less about the product, which is awesome, cause life is a process, not a product.
The most important thing I got out of this reading is that its more important to try something new than to worry about what its going to look like. I mean sure, there’s a time and a place for everything, but its more important to try and fail then to let your good idea die inside your own mind. It’s like ART and SCIENCE. Two totally different ways of approaching the same goal- the only way to learn new things is to try new things. I mean sure, you can blow a building up or completely destroy a strip of film, but the knowledge of a process is far more important than anything you can hold in your hand… most of the time….