1933-01-14 ( 92 years old ) in Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Stan Brakhage is one of the most influential filmmakers in American avant-garde cinema, noted for his unflinching social commentaries and technical innovations. Over his nearly 40-year career, he has made over 200 films of varying length. He made his first film, Interim (1952) at age 18 after dropping out of college. Brakhage films seek to change the way we see. They encourage viewers to eschew traditional narrative structure in favor of pure visual perception that is not reliant on naming what is seen; rather his goal is to create a more visceral visual experience, for he believes that a "stream-of visual-consciousness could be nothing less than the pathway of the soul." To this end, his films are shot in highly sensual colors and utilize minimal soundtracks.
His work can be divided into distinct periods. His first short films explored the properties and possibilities of light. In many of his experimental ventures, Brakhage has forgone traditional cinematography in favor of working directly with the film stock itself. He has occasionally painted, inked, scratched and dyed images onto it; he has also tried pasting organic objects on the film. His most famous example is the 1963 short Mothlight in which he glued moth wings onto the stock. Some of his early films were based on his most intimate experiences that included making love to his new bride--depicted on negative film--in Wedlock House: An Intercourse (1959), and an attempt to bring his dead dog back to life with a camera in Sirius Remembered (1959). During the 1960s, Brakhage's iconoclastic views were celebrated for their poetry, but during the '70s, his focus changed to social issues and he alienated many supporters with such disturbing film series as the "Pittsburgh documents" in which he presented many gruesome views of inner city life with films such as Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes (1971) which was shot in a morgue. He also continued with autobiographical material with the "Sincerity/Duplicity series. During the 1980s, Brakhage's focus again changed--this time he became intrigued with creating truly "abstract" films such as Arabics (1982) which consists of brilliant bursts of colored light which he claims, represent "envisioned music." In addition to filmmaking, Brakhage also wrote books about films and filmmaking and also served as a teacher.
Movies
Diaries, Notes, and Sketches
2013-11-23
For Stan
2009-04-07
Dinner with Brakhage and Gamow
2008-12-06
Brakhage Crosses Central Park
2006-11-01
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
2006-11-01
Notes on Marie Menken
2006-04-20
A Visit to Stan Brakhage
2003-05-03
Keeping an Eye on Stan
2003-03-03
Encomium
2003-01-01
Life with Stan #4: Stan Painting
2002-12-12
In the Mirror of Maya Deren
2002-03-15
Vakvagany
2002-03-05
Garden Path
2001-08-09
Looking at Forest of Bliss
2000-05-13
Keepers of the Frame
1999-03-01
Brakhage
1998-09-17
I Met Stan Brakhage (At Moma, N.Y.C)
1998-01-01
Birth of a Nation
1997-08-06
Stan Brakhage on Gregory Markopoulos
1997-07-08
Stan Brakhage on Jim Davis
1997-06-01
Cannibal! The Musical
1996-08-30
BRAKHAGE ON BRAKHAGE
1996-01-01
As Is Was
1995-01-01
Jonas in the Desert
1994-01-01
Abstract Cinema
1993-06-24
Z (Zee Not Zed)
1993-01-01
Joseph Cornell: Worlds in a Box
1991-11-29
Watunna
1989-01-01
I... Dreaming
1988-10-01
Faust's Other: An Idyll
1988-01-01
Doodlin': Impressions Of Len Lye
1987-01-01
Invocation: Maya Deren
1986-04-24
Reflecting Thought: Stan Brakhage
1985-01-01
Tortured Dust
1984-04-13
Stan & Jane Brakhage
1981-03-31
Grand Opera: An Historical Romance
1978-01-01
The Stars Are Beautiful
1974-11-19
Reality's Invisible
1972-04-19
Filmmakers
1969-01-01
The Art of Vision
1965-05-20
Dog Star Man
1965-02-22
Dog Star Man: Part IV
1964-11-17
Dog Star Man: Part III
1964-11-17
Song 1
1964-03-20
Dog Star Man: Part I
1963-03-18
Dog Star Man: Part II
1963-01-01
Prelude: Dog Star Man
1962-04-15
Window Water Baby Moving
1959-08-02
Wedlock House: An Intercourse
1959-04-27
Cat's Cradle
1959-01-01
Flesh of Morning
1956-01-06
Trumpit
1956-01-01
The One Romantic Venture of Edward
1956-01-01
The Extraordinary Child
1954-11-12
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