Mothlight, Stan Brakhage’s Self-cremation: From Poetic Language to Use - Text 2
No one is better placed than Brakhage to speak of his practice. Nevertheless, gathering and transmitting his comments is not sufficient. One must be able to interpret his discourse in technical terms. The term “vision” is central in Brakhage’s language. It is even the cornerstone to an understanding of his work. In an interview of which an excerpt can be found below, he uses the expressions “vision”, “the eye brain”, “the mind’s eyes”, “not just what the light passes through”, “the surface of the brain” and “nervous system feedback”. This list makes it possible to connect how, on the one hand, Brakhage functions as human being, and the technical equipment he brings into play, the camera and the film stock, on the other. His choice of words is tied up with a desire to distance the real, which is never imprinted, from what is on the level of interpretation through the eye looking at the real.
