DC's

Fiction
(in no order)

Kay Gabriel A QUEEN IN BUCKS COUNTY (nightboat)

Ida Marie Hede ADORABLE (lolli)

Blake Butler UXA.GOV (Inside the Castle)

Hesse K. DISQUIET DRIVE (Pilot Press)

Ágota Kristóf I DON’T CARE (New Directions)

Joseph Goosey CASEY ANTHONY, RENOWNED TRAPESE ARTIST (Schism Nεuronics)

Navid Sinaki MEDUSA OF THE ROSES (Grove Atlantic)

Lauren Cook SEX GOBLIN (nightboat)

Gary J Shipley STAB FRENZY (Apocalypse Party)

Joy Williams CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF SOULS (Tin House)

Wolfe Margolies SHAME (Infinity Land)

Juliet Escoria YOU ARE THE SNAKE (Soft Skull)

Kristen Felicetti LOG OFF (Shabby Doll House)

David Kuhnlein BLOODLETTER (Amphetamine Sulphate)

Valerie Werder THIEVES (Fence Books)

Snatch Wylden SLASHER REDUXXX (Cloak)

Jack Skelley MYTH LAB (Far West Press)

Estelle Hoy SAKE BLUE (After8 Books)

Danielle Dutton PRAIRIE, DRESSES, ART, OTHER (Coffee House Press)

Grant Maierhofer PISSANT… BIB… DOLLAR TREE PARTS… WE SHOULD BECOME THE PITILESS CENSORS OF OURSELVES… (Inside the Castle)

Max Restaino COYOTE (Amphetamine Sulphate)

1-wing 2can, et al 2-BYTE βETA Ei8ht ½-LOOPƨ (Calamari Press)

Jeremy Kitchen MR. CRABBY YOU HAVE DIED (First to Knock)

Katharine Haake WHAT HAPPENED WAS (11:11 Press)

David Leo Rice THE BERLIN WALL (Whisk(e)y Tit)

John Trefry MASSIVE (Inside the Castle)

Stacey Levine MICE (Verse Chorus Press)

Christopher Owens “DETHRONE GOD”  (Sweat Drenched Press)

Zebulon House THE PSYCHIC SURGEON ASSISTS (Calamari Press)

Charlene Elsby VIOLENT FACULTIES (Clash Books)

Nate Lippens RIPCORD (Semiotext(e))

Logan Berry ULTRATHEATRE: VOLUME 1  (11:11 Press)

 

 

Poetry
(in no order)

Joyelle McSweeney DEATH STYLES (nightboat)

Emily Hunt STRANGER (The Song Cave)

Anselm Berrigan DON’T FORGET TO LOVE ME (Wave Books)

Sabrina Tarasoff, ed. FUN TO BE DEAD: THE POEMS OF BOB FLANAGAN (Kristina Kite Gallery / Pep Talk)

Ira Rat ENDLESS NOW (Filthy Loot)

Ted Rees HAND ME THE LIMITS (Roof Books)

Oscar d’Artois THE ISLAND (Shabby Doll House)

David Trinidad SLEEPING WITH BASHO (BlazeVOX)

Stéphane Mallarmé A ROLL OF THE DICE (Wave Books)

Alice Notley BEING REFLECTED UPON (Penguin)

Alex Osman SCANDALS (Filthy Loot)

Zoë Hitzig NOT US NOW (Changes)

Charles North NEWS, POETRY AND POPLARS (Black Square Editions)

Tony Trigilio THE PUNISHMENT BOOK: THE COMPLETE DARK SHADOWS (OF MY CHILDHOOD), BOOK 4 (BlazeVOX)

Cletus Crow PHALLIC SYMBOLS (Pig Roast)

Kendra Sullivan REPS (Ugly Duckling Presse)

Maria Hardin CUTE GIRLS WATCH WHEN I EAT AETHER (Action Books)

Wayne Koestenbaum STUBBLE ARCHIPELAGO (Semiotext(e))

Charalampos Tzanakis ALL OUT IN THE OPEN (Sweat Drenched Press)

Bruce Andrews & Sally Silvers UPSTAGE (Ugly Duckling Presse)

Alan Felsenthal HEREAFTER (The Song Cave)

Clark Coolidge RADIUM OUT COLD (Lithic Press)

 

 

Nonfiction
(in no order)

Cynthia Carr CANDY DARLING: DREAMER, ICON, SUPERSTAR (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Anne Carson WRONG NORMA (New Directions)

Ted Berrigan GET THE MONEY!: COLLECTED PROSE 1961-1983 (City Lights)

Lucy Sante SIX SERMONS FOR BOB DYLAN (Tenement Press)

Brad Gooch RADIANT: THE LIFE AND LINE OF KEITH HARING (Harper)

Sam Ashby, ed.LITTLE JOE: A BOOK ABOUT QUEERS AND CINEMA, MOSTLY (SPBH)

Valerie Hsiung THE NAIF (Ugly Duckling Presse)

Mike Corrao SURFACE STUDIES (Action Books)

Kevin Killian SELECTED AMAZON REVIEWS (Semiotext(e))

Chris Zeischegg CREATION: ON ART AND UNBECOMING (Apocalypse Party)

Richard King TRAVELS OVER FEELING: ARTHUR RUSSELL: A LIFE (Faber & Faber)

Joe Brainard LOVE, JOE: THE SELECTED LETTERS OF JOE BRAINARD (Columbia University Press)

Steve Finbow GRAVE DESIRE: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF NECROPHILIA (Infinity Land Press)

Serge Daney FOOTLIGHTS: CRITICAL NOTEBOOK 1970–1982 (Semiotext(e))

Alexander Kluge THE DRAGONFLY’S EYE: MY VIRTUAL CAMERA (AI) (Spectormag)

 

 

Music
(in no order)

7038634357 TIMERS (Bus)

HYPER GAL AFTER IMAGE (Skin Graft)

Richie Culver SCREAM IF YOU DON’T EXIST (Participant)

Mount Eerie NIGHT PALACE (P.W. Elverum & Sun)

Kali Malone ALL LIFE LONG (Ideologic Organ)

KMRU NATUR (Touch)

Guided by Voices STRUT OF KINGS (Rockathon)

Moor Mother THE GREAT BAILOUT (Anti-)

Thurston Moore FLOW CRITICAL LUCIDITY (Daydream Library)

Meth Math CHUPETONES (Reel Life Entertainment)

Klara Lewis THANKFUL (Editions Mego)

claire rousay SENTIMENT (Thrill Jockey)

Kee Avil SPINE (Constellation Records)

Kim Gordon THE COLLECTIVE (Matador)

Cindy Lee DIAMOND JUBILEE (Realistik)

Morgan Garrett PURITY (Orange Milk Records)

Still House Plants IF I DON’T MAKE IT, I LOVE U (Bison Records)

Loren Connors & Chris Cochrane ARTEMISIA (Infrequent Seams)

Buñuel MANSUETUDE (Skin Graft Records)

Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff, Wendy Eisenberg THE POSSIBILTY OF A NEW WORK FOR ELECTRIC GUITAR (Other Minds)

Charli XCX BRAT (Atlantic)

Locrian END TERRAIN (Profound Lore)

NPVR 33 34 (Editions Mego)

 

 

Film
(in no order)

Jean-Luc Godard SCÉNARIOS

Harmony Korine AGGRO DR1FT

Leos Carax IT’S NOT ME

James Benning BREATHLESS

Wang Bing YOUTH (HOMECOMING)

Harold Crooks & Judd Tully THE MELT GOES ON FOREVER: THE ART & TIMES OF DAVID HAMMONS

Leslie Thornton HANDMADE

Ernie Gehr ERNIE GEHR: MECHANICAL MAGIC IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson RUMOURS

Steve Reinke SUNDOWN

Simon Liu LET’S TALK

Radu Jude DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD

Kurosawa Kiyoshi CHIME

Wes Ball KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

 

 

Art
(in no order)

Thomas Schütte RETROSPECTIVE (MoMA)

Liz Larner MAGNETIC INSTINCT (Regen Projects)

Arte Povera (Pinault Collection)

Chantal Akerman EXPOSITION (Jeu de Paume)

UNDERCURRENTS I: STORIES, SYMBOLS, AND SOUNDS (Wende Museum)

Matthew Barney SECONDARY (Fondation Cartier)

Peter Fischli & David Weiss (Pinault Collection)

Allen Jones FROM THE GODS (Almine Rech)

Alan Vega CESSPOOL SAINTS (Galerie Laurent Godin)

Rob Pruitt x Lizzi Bougatsos HELP ME LIFT YOU UP (Air de Paris)

LA BANDE DESSINEE US MUSEE (Centre Pompidou)

 

 

Internet
(in no order)

SCAB
ASTERISM
zlibrary
The Wire
GAMESCENES
Internet Archive
VK Video
PLAY THERAPY V2.0
Solidarity Cinema
otherppl
WAKE ISLAND
Mattazine Society
pixiv
{ feuilleton }
SHABBY DOLL HOUSE
too scared to tell my mom
espresso bongo
X-R-A-Y
Art and Trash
Legsville
Rhizome
Theme Park Review
ok.ru
Musique Machine
Original Cinemaniac
ANGUSRAZE
PEPPERLAND SPICERACK
Beaucoup
Expat
SOAP2DAY
Volume 1 Brooklyn
Experimental Cinema
The Los Angeles Review of Books
3:AM Magazine
largehearted boy
pantaloons
Locus Solus: The New York School of Poets
giphy
The Wonderful World of Tam Tam Books
Hobart
Ubuweb

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. So, it’s that annual day of the year when I share my favorites of the past year. There are probably things I’m forgetting. There are undoubtedly things I haven’t yet read, seen, heard, or watched that would be there if I had. As always, I would love to hear what your favorites of the year were if you would be so kind as to pass them along. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Yes, I suppose you’re right. I think the Weezer lunchbox is still in storage somewhere. The one from my childhood, surely not. I can share my Buche event of yesterday in the following form. Here’s the Buche itself. And here are my fellow devourers and the Buche just before its dissection (l. to r.: Chris, Lucy, Ange, Zac). It was good: the logs aka cake and even the white chocolate fireplace, stocking, and grate. And there’s a wee bit left. Very smooth trip to Hungary today. Will you be there for the holidays’ duration, I guess meaning until New Years? Love making a list of his favorite humans of the year with you most assuredly on it, G. ** jay, Hey, Jay. Well, there isn’t a lot to tell about the ‘God Jr.’ graphic novel yet. The artist/graphic novelist doing it is Sylvain Bordesoules, who has published two really excellent graphic novels here in France. The ‘GJr’ one is planned to be published in English and in French. I think in France it’ll be published by Gallimard. I don’t know about the English one. I’m excited about it. Thank you for the ‘Belladonna’ link. I’ll use it ASAP. Awesome. Yes, ‘Eye’ is my top choice, predictably. Haha, your boyfriend sounds sweet. I’m happy you’ve wound up with a nice and readable guy. Thanks, Buche pix just above, and I hope your weekend’s atmosphere is Xmas-y in some way. ** Misanthrope, Sorry about the busyness, G, but I reckon they’ll cut you loose any second if not already. Enjoy the birthday dinner, obvs. I’m planning to spend my weekend with Paper Mario. ** _Black_Acrylic, Glad it/he was of interest. What Hollywood cranks out is mostly just a bunch of dissolvable distractions. My list is now yours. Time for you to pony up, dude. ** Steeqhen, I woke up too early too, but luckily I don’t have anything mind-busting to do today. I quit ‘Luigi’s Mansion 3’ because I came upon a boss who seemed impossible (for me) to beat, but it was fun until he drove me away. I watched my roommate play the Zelda as Zelda game when I was in LA last time, and it did look quite charming and not excessively hard. ** politekid, Big O! Thanks about ‘God Jr.’. I’m very proud of that book, and not just because it’s the novel of mine that people seem least interested in. I think the last section of ‘God Jr.’ is the best thing I have ever written. Anyway, thanks. I told what there its to be told about it to jay up above. It’s still pretty early on. I don’t think the artist has actually started working on it yet. Director’s Cuts of films are almost always more self-indulgent and worse. Like ‘Donnie Darko’ is a lovely film, or it was until the director fucked it up by adding a bunch of time-consuming, ‘meaningful’ leftover crap. You do sound better about your own writing today, great, and, yes, keep me in the loop. Editing is my metier. Great, I can pore through the lit journal, thank you, maestro. Everyone, here’s a link to a lit journal issue co-edited and co-introduced by the brilliant politekid. Brainy coolness awaits. I seriously envy you on that tractor parade. Zac is obsessed with tractors, and he would lose his mind if he were you. How/what was it? Any exciting fiascos or intentional highlights? Right, I was working on an opera like you describe at one point. Gisele Vienne was to direct it. Zac and I co-wrote it. Dominique Gonzales-Foerster was going to do the set. And the one and only Scott Walker was composing the score and songs. But then he got cancer and died, and that was kind of the end of it. It’s really too bad. It would have been very strange and maybe even innovative if we had actually done it. Have a blast with the tractors and with every other little thing that enters your peripheral vision this weekend. ** Steve, Thank you, I did. Pix of the Buche whence still in tact are link-accessible up above. I hope your parents are toasty warm. Nice re: your snow. We had a good two minutes of hail and sleet here the other day. Young child like really young? Pokemon and its billion offshoots seem to be the child game, I think? Maybe some of the easiest Mario stuff? Kids probably play those puzzle-based games like Tetris and stuff? ** HaRpEr, Basinski leant a nice, melancholy vibe to the Buche feast yesterday, all thanks to you. The Buche was complicatedly delish. You can see it if you click the links in my talk to Dominik up above. I remember trying to make a Scary Xmas music gig for the blog and finding that too difficult. Did you mange to fill one? You have a great start there. That’s funny, or sort of, but when I was in high school one of my best friend’s girlfriend was this much older British woman, and she used to make all of us teens watch ‘The Bishop’s Wife’ with her at Xmas, so there you go. I don’t remember it so well. I was doing a lot of acid at the time, and I do remember it wasn’t so conducive. Your dad sounds like a major handful. Yeah, I mean, polite silence and forced smiles seems like your arsenal. Ugh, sorry. Congrats on your shoes, which do sound very scenic and physically uplifting, which hopefully transfers up to your heart and head. Have a lovely weekend up there. ** Sarah, Hi, Sarah. There you go? What infected your year in the good way? ‘Yakuza’ does sound really fun, yes. Really. I’m going to look into it. Ooh. Awesome about your novel! That’s so great! When is it coming out? That’s very exciting. As someone who either writes or tries to write vibes-based fiction with minimal, merely fuel-like narrative, I applaud you. Bah, there’s no ‘you can’t do that’ with writing and with fiction in particular. I don’t need to tell you that, in fact, anything goes. Predetermining rules from outside sources are why most fiction books are just inert clones only distinguishable from one another due to slight variations. No, I haven’t seen ‘Smile 2′, but I do intend to see that one. I’m way behind on regular, wide release films. I need to get over myself. Did you have a weekend of note? ** Bill, Hi. Pix of the Buche and its eaters (minus me) available via the highlighted green words north of here. The eating itself was just eating plus the occasional uttered compliment plus cheap champagne buzz. Oh, nice, about VanDerBeek’s grandson. And about you getting to see that Dome piece in person. Very cool. Your gig is tonight! Knock ’em dead! Everyone, If by some miracle there is someone reading this who is in Taipei today, the great Bill Hsu is performing in your vicinity tonight, and you should go! Here’s the scoop. ** Right. My 2024 faves, ideally in return for yours. See you on Monday.

 

‘Stan VanDerBeek is a legendary name in the history of experimental film. A restless adventurer who began making experimental animated films in the 1950s, VanDerBeek filmed happenings, designed windows for Tiffany’s and worked with John Cage and Claes Oldenburg.

‘He also explored the artistic possibilities of new technologies of his time: video, computers, even the fax machine. He was artist-in-residence at Bell Labs and at NASA.

‘VanDerBeek’s 1963 film Breathdeath is full of animated collages satirizing gender roles and politics. There’s also an arresting staged scene — a woman sits on a bed nuzzling a figure made from an empty shirt and trousers, topped by a television set showing men’s faces; she looks into the camera while “I Put a Spell on You” wails on the soundtrack.

‘VanDerBeek made dozens of these collage films in the 1950s and early ’60s, using altered clippings from magazines and newspapers to create whimsical but pointed commentary. The films look like they must be the primary inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python animated sequences, which appeared a few years later.

‘But VanDerBeek did not start out as a filmmaker. He attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina to study visual art. There he met people who were transforming art: composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham, painter Robert Rauschenberg. But painting wasn’t enough for VanDerBeek. “VanDerBeek called himself a technological fruit picker,” says Joao Ribas, who is curator at MIT’s LIST Visual Arts Center.

‘VanDerBeek’s only technical training in filmmaking came from working on animation for a CBS children’s show in the 1950s. He would use the editing equipment after hours to complete his own films, cajoling the night watchman to let him in even after he lost the job. The collage films were designed and created at his home, as his oldest daughter, August, recalls.

‘In the mid-’60s, VanDerBeek ordered a grain-silo kit and used the top to build a domed theater in the artists’ cooperative where he lived in rural New York. The inside space was 31-feet high. August VanDerBeek says she helped build what her dad called the Movie Drome.

‘”There was of course a big event when everybody came from New York City,” August recalls. “Andy Warhol and different people came to see the first showing. We had a beautiful cloth and pillows. There was a circular tray that was about probably 10 feet or 12 feet in diameter, that had many slide projectors and a lot of 16mm projectors, and it would just spin around the whole room. We would lie down and watch this incredible collage of images. He would find slides. He would make films and then edit them for the pieces.”

“There was of course a big event when everybody came from New York City,” August recalls. “Andy Warhol and different people came to see the first showing. We had a beautiful cloth and pillows. There was a circular tray that was about probably 10 feet or 12 feet in diameter, that had many slide projectors and a lot of 16mm projectors, and it would just spin around the whole room. We would lie down and watch this incredible collage of images. He would find slides. He would make films and then edit them for the pieces.”

‘Her father made a somewhat portable version called the Movie Mural that curators have tried to approximate in Houston. It’s not really a dome and not quite wraparound. The table of projectors still has those cranky antiques — the carousel slide projector — but it’s updated with video projectors too, since 16mm projectors could not run for hours without breaking down. The table doesn’t spin, as the original did in the Movie Drome, but it still creates a dizzying array of sight and sound.

‘Blues music overlaps with Hollywood film clips of Gene Kelly or Humphrey Bogart. Photos of classical statuary and temples slide in next to VanDerBeek’s own kinetic line drawings of figures. Newspaper headlines compete with the Rolling Stones. The Movie Mural is the dominant feature in the exhibition; no matter where you are in the Museum’s long open space, you can always hear that energetic circus of sound.

‘VanDerBeek envisioned a global network of these environments linked by satellites. He called it the Culture Intercom (also the title of the exhibition). The term suggests a prescient imagining more than 40 years ago of today’s Worldwide Web and social media.

‘VanDerBeek recorded his exuberant notes and proposals for the future on media that is now obsolete media or quite perishable: yellowing notebook paper, paper punch cards he used with some of the first computer-imaging software at Bell Labs, floppy disks, film stock that crumbles away. The exhibition reclaims this material in all its intimately detailed glory, right down to hand-drawn maps for people coming to the Movie Drome.’ — NPR

 

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Stills

 

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Further

Stan VanDerBeek
we are still catching up with his visions for the future
Stan VanDerBeek @ IMDb
Visual Velocity: The Work of Stan VanDerBeek
Movie Mural
Stan VanDerBeek @ Andrea Rosen Gallery
Stan VanDerBeek @ Film Makers Coop
Stan VanDerBeek: Film On The Cutting Edge
Even Alien Whales: Stan VanDerBeek’s Brainchildren
Stan VanDerBeek: The Culture Intercom
William Kaizen on Stan VanDerBeek
Stan VanDerBeek Re:animated
Review: Stan VanDerBeek at Andrea Rosen Gallery
A Room With A Field: Stan VanDerBeek’s Poemfields
Stan VanDerBeek: An Early Space Art Pioneer

 

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Stan Vanderbeek: The Computer Generation (1972)
‘Documentary from 1972 by John Musilli. Gygory Kepes’ dream for the new MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies was to create a thriving laboratory for the creation of new artworks and artistic research within the context of MIT. Established in 1967, the Center appointed several long-term fellows in its first decade, including the pioneering experimental filmmaker Stan VanDerBeek. VanDerBeek became enthralled with MIT’s digital universe. Everywhere, he found computers and intensely creative engineers and scientists pushing the absolute limits of technology. VanDerBeek was as interested in how computers were shaping MIT and the larger society as he was in conducting his own experiments. The Computer Generation is a documentary that captures VanDerBeek’s expansive and fascinating ideas about computers and society and that features clips of his own investigations conducted largely at MIT. “What does an artist do with a machine?” he asks in the film. “Amplify the artist’s thought. And at last the artist is in the electronic matrix, no longer confined to his studio.”’ — Network Awesome

 

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10 of Stan VanDerBeek’s 64 films

______________
Euclidean Illusions (1978)
‘A fantasy film of illusive geometry, changing and rebuilding itself by computer animation, unique visual magic done while artist-in-residence at NASA in Houston in conjunction with Richard Weinberg.’ — Filmmakers Coop

Dan Deacon and Andrew Bernstein live soundtracking Euclidean Illusions

 

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Film Form No. 1 (1970)
‘A hypnotic dance film of colors, dancers, forms and music all sweeping through the tv tube eye, mixed together into a flow of female bodies and colors, a brilliant study of color printing from black and white. ” S.V. “The mysterious, gracefully repeated dancer of Stan Vanderbeek’s Film Form No. 1 puts the video film in a perspective that makes the mere ordering of space for a few minutes seem reason enough for the whole perilous business of reducing time and movement to anything so substantial as film or tape.’ — Roger Greenspun

 

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Poem Fields Nos. 1-8 (1968)
‘Each film was constructed using Knowlton’s BEFLIX computer language, which was based on FORTRAN. The films were programmed on a IBM 7094 computer. The films were created in black and white, with color added later by Brown and Olvey. This particular version is taken from a film with some color decay.’ — AT&T Tech Channel

Trailer

 

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Moirage (1967)
‘Moirage, 1967 is an abstract film study in optical illusions and pattern-superimpositions which built on VanDerBeek’s longstanding interest in visual phenomena. Made with a moiré pattern kit consisting of transparencies with concentric circles, parallel lines, and arrays of dots, the resulting effect (generally curved, radiating and sometimes very complex rippled or “watered” appearance), demonstrates wave interference and can be said to be a psychological experience due to how any imperfect alignment forms a pattern in one’s own eye. Moiré was one of the key motifs of the 1960s as seen in avant-garde films by peers of VanDerBeek such as John Whitney and Jordan Belson, following progenitors of the form, Oskar Fischinger and Len Lye.’ — magenta plains

Watch an excerpt here

 

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The Human Face is a Monument (1965)
‘Camera animation over stills, “a portrait study of mankind, beginning with an infant and growing up to old age and death… using still pictures from the collection of ‘magnum photos on the range of expression and moods of people from all over the world, it reflects the human condition.’ — S.V.

 

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Movie-Drome (1964–65)
‘Described by VanDerBeek as a “very intense audio-visual environment” or a large-scale collage, Movie-Drome includes thirty to forty films and five slideshows organized into seventeen moving image and sound programs displayed in a silo top dome structure. Content loops simultaneously in a particular arrangement designated by the Archive. Content is based on VanDerBeek’s playlists for the Movie-Drome and includes material representative of his varied approaches to filmmaking: collage films; computer films; newsreel and found film; dance and performance films; and multiple slideshows combining original and found images. Movie-Drome has a fixed number of programs comprised of material made 1957-1972.’ — MoMA

Excerpt 1

Excerpt 2

Installing Stan VanDerBeek’s “Movie-Drome”

 

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Breathdeath (1963)
“… a film experiment that deals with the photo reality and the surrealism of life. It is a collage-animation that cuts up photoes and newsreel film and reassembles them, producing an image that is a mixture of unexplainable fact (Why is Harpo Marx playing a harp in the middle of a battlefield?) with the inexplicable act (Why is there a battlefield?). It is a black comedy, a fantasy that mocks at death…a parabolic parable.’ — S.V.

 

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Wheeeeels No 2 (1959)
‘Dedicated to Detroit and subtitled ‘America on wheels.’ A fantasy farce farce on the car of everyday life. Everything is a vehicle, life is in motion, motion is the means, the automation is the mean mania of today.’ — S.V.

Watch the film here

 

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Astral Man (1959)
‘“Can – there – exist – in – the – eye – a – side – we – can – not – see…” begins Astral Man, labeled as an “illuminated poem” towards the end of the short film. When describing this film, Stan VanDerBeek called it “An animated vision… a subliminal glance at man in light and space.”’ — magenta plains

Watch an excerpt here

 

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Science Friction (1959)
‘The technological explosion of this last half-century, and the implied future are overwhelming, man is running the machines of his own invention… while the machine that is man… runs the risk of running wild. Technological research, development, and involvement of the world community has almost completely out-distanced the emotional-sociological (socio-“logical”) comprehension of this technology. The “technique-power” and “culture-over-reach” that is just beginning to explode in many parts of the earth, is happening so quickly that it has put the logical fulcrum of man’s intelligence so far outside himself that he cannot judge or estimate the results of his acts before he commits them.’ — Stan Vanderbeek

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. I’m old enough to have gone through some lunchboxes in my school going days. Disco Fever might be on eBay or something if your recent spending spree isn’t over yet. And you’ll get to pore over my year’s faves tomorrow, lucky you? ** Huckleberry Shelf, Hi! I think I know exactly what you mean. I went into fiction writing as poet, and it also took me some time to realise that the conventional fiction writing rules and etiquette weren’t things I had to learn to adhere to but were things that I, as a poet, didn’t need to learn and follow, and that they were just options I could use as I saw fit, like line breaks. Anyway, you sound like you’re in an excellent state of mind re: prose, and, obviously, I highly encourage you to keep finding your ideal voice therein. You’ll land where you want, I’m sure, not to mention land in places you never imagined landing. It’s exciting to hear about and think about. Oh, in case you didn’t see it, HaRpEr shared some thoughts with you about that. Yeah, nice Bruce Boone quote. Have a lovely day, sincerely me. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Thanks, it seems so, and I hope so. It’s true, if I did advise myself against having hopeless crushes, I wouldn’t have written a lot of my early poetry, for better or worse. Nice lunchbox picks. Agreed. I’ve actually owned two of those lunch boxes. A friend gave me the Weezer lunchbox back when I was really into them, and the ‘Get Smart’ one accompanied me to school in my elementary years on occasion. Sounds like love needed a … dare I say … bubble bath? Love making my trip home today from a fancy hotel with a fragile Buche de Noel in a bag one in which everyone around me keeps a safe, respectful distance, G. ** Steeqhen, I think it’s true that lunchboxes are a pretty American tradition. When I was searching for them, I didn’t see any that had graphics from old TV shows originating in the UK or anywhere else, just ones emblazoned with American stuff. Aw, poor Marge. Congrats on getting the essay behind you. Go deservingly wild. Thanks in advance about the email and its accoutrement. The next game I’m going to buy for my Switch after I finish ‘Paper Mario’ is ‘Lorelei and the Laser Eyes’, recommended by the blog’s very own jay. What games are you eyeballing? ** jay, Turning a seeming ‘whatever’ into an unexpected wow is one my blog’s goals in life, so thank you. Even the most at-peace old guys can be a little sensitive about their oldness, but you sound like you’ve read the vibes quite well. ‘Belladona of Sadness’ is now a must, thanks. ‘Blue of Noon’ is my second favorite Bataille after you-know-what. Your boyfriend is a Bataille skeptic, or maybe a ‘you’ as an influenced prospectee skeptic? I’d save you a slice of the Buche de Noel I’m going to devour (with friends) today if I possibly could. ** James, You thought the post’s title was a ruse and that you’d get 218 slaves instead maybe? Do you play Ping Pong? I used to. My family had a ping pong table when I was growing up, but I was too klutzy. But I grew up with a pool table in my bedroom, and I used to be a real pool playing shark. I’m guessing you’re post-English lessons and utterly free as you read this. So, high-five assuming I am correct. You have the wildest days. You probably don’t think so since you’re in the middle of them, but you do, trust me. My guess from what you say is that your family knows but wants that to be your personal, discrete business? We’ve talked about hot chocolate in the past? *thump* (sound of me smacking myself upside my head). May whatever is left of your day be the highlight of your day. Or lowlight if you prefer. ** Lucas, Hey! ‘Crowd’ was great. That’s weird for me to say since I partly made it, but it was. Two of the ‘actors’ in ‘Permanent Green Light’ are dancers in ‘Crowd’, and it was nice to see them do what they normally do. That’s so great about your great friends. That’s so important, as you well know. Ugh about the stuff with your parents. Gosh, I hope that’s sorted and that you’re feeling more secured today. Are you? ** Joseph, Making you happy is no small thing, so thank you. ‘The Lunch Box That Rocks’ sounds great, wow. Hugs re: its demise. Fucking world. Yes, awesome, about your soon-to-be Japan ensconced friends! Wherever they land, Japan has those amazing high speed bullet trains, so you can travel fairly afar in a snap. ** politekid, Whoa, big O, there you are! I’ve been wondering where and how you are and assuming the Satanic Cloudflare monster might have been keeping you at bay. Anyway, you’re here! Hey! I’m okay. Yeah, the film’s problems starting to be solved at last is huge. My novel that’s being turned into a graphic novel is ‘God Jr.’, which probably won’t surprise you. Um, no, no ‘Closer’ manga that I know of. A Japanese artist did some yaois based on my novel ‘Try’ back in the 90s, but I think that’s it for me and manga/graphic novels other than ‘Horror Hospital Unplugged’. Awesome about the book! Sweet! Um, be sure you’re not being seriously subjective about that work, man. It’s very easy to lose sight of the value of something you made before you changed your standards for what you make. It probably has charm and power that you can’t focus your eyes, etc on. It’s like … there are things in some of my early novels that I know I could do better now, but I would never revise them because I know I would probably harm whatever magic that my inabilities at the time accidentally caused. That said, editing is the funnest. You’ll figure it out. Is there a way to see this lit journal you co-edited? Because I would like to if so. Those students sound insufferable. Brats. So sorry. Slip some acid into their water supply. My only Xmas plan is eating a Buche de Noel later today with some pals. Beyond that, absolutely nothing planned. But you + Xmas will = ?. I hope Cloudflare continues to find favor with you because you’re a sight and text for sore eyes and brain. xo. ** Steve, So sorry about your parents and the cold. That does sound really stressful. I’m pretty sure that all of the lunchboxes were/are real, yeah. No clue on that weird fish. I naturally think your idea for the EP is a most inspired one, so have fun nailing it. ** Toniok, Hi. Because … lunchboxes are not a popular item where you live maybe? Don’t give up on the book of your art re: publishers. It took me ages to find a publisher for my first novel, and then it was great. But the rejections were many and frequent for quite a while. James Lee Byars, cool. I have my faves list coming up tomorrow, so I’ll wait to counter with my top things until then. xo, me. ** HaRpEr, I was surprised they were still making lunchboxes by the time of Slipknot’s heyday. Awesome about your excitement and dedication to the manuscript. Your thinking thereby sounds really sparkling. I didn’t know Basinski did a ‘Silent Night’. I need a soundtrack for the Buche eating event today, and that might do the trick. Thank you so much! ** Jimmy, Hi. Nah, it was raining all day yesterday, so I put off my market trip until … maybe today. I do need to eat. But I’m eating part of the Buche today, so that might suffice. I think you should feast whatever makes your tongue hang over your bottom lip. Friday of momentousness to you. ** Sarah, Hi, Sarah! Thanks, yes, finally (re: the film). ‘Diary of a Rapist’, noted. I haven’t read it. I know the word Yakuza, but I don’t think I know of what you speak. I can and will find out though. I don’t know, your novel premise or story or whatever sounds quite promising. And I do so like the overcomplicated. But you feel like you need to figure out what’s going on? You don’t think it’s maybe going on without your complete and conscious knowledge? I hope you can sort it. I’m excited by a novel by you. I’m actually between books because I ordered some and they haven’t arrived yet, but tomorrow I’m posting my faves of 2024 lists, and I can recommend anything that may intrigue you based on the title and author/maker and book cover/representative image and the fact that it was a fave of mine? I haven’t seen ‘Wicked’. Should I? I sort of haven’t had any interest in trying it. But should I? ** Okay. Today I present to you another excellent experimental filmmaker who you may or may not know but who I think you will not be sorry to have become at least somewhat familiar with. See you tomorrow.