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ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES/LIGHT INDUSTRY
Stan Brakhage: Metaphors on Vision
Edited by P. Adams Sitney.
“Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective … an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of ‘Green?’” So begins Stan Brakhage’s (1933–2003) classic Metaphors on Vision. Originally published in 1963 by Jonas Mekas as a special issue of Film Culture, and designed by George Maciunas, it stands as the major theoretical statement by one of avant-garde cinema’s most influential figures, a treatise on mythopoeia and the nature of visual experience written in a style as idiosyncratic as his art. Long out of print, the volume is now available in this definitive edition from Anthology Film Archives and Light Industry, featuring Brakhage’s complete text in its distinctive original layout, as well as annotations by scholar P. Adams Sitney.
Featured image, from the Prelude, "Dog Star Man," is reproduced from 'Stan Brakhage: Metaphors on Vision.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Artforum
Erika Balson
Brakhage's legacy has endured-- and with good reason: no figure of experimental film has been more maligned, yet none has been more lionized.
This early 60s Robert Benson photograph of Stan Brakhage working on the Prelude to his five-film masterpiece, Dog Star Man, is reproduced from Metaphors on Vision, Anthology Film Archives and Light Industry’s new edition of Brakhage’s iconic theoretical statement, originally published in 1963 by Jonas Mekas as a special issue of Film Culture magazine designed by George Maciunas. “The artist has carried the tradition of vision and visualization down through the ages,” Brakhage wrote. “In the present time a very few have continued the process of visual perception in its deepest sense and transformed their inspirations into cinematic experiences. They create a new language made possible by the moving picture image. They create where fear before them has created the greatest necessity. They are essentially preoccupied by and deal imagistically with—birth, sex, death, and the search for God.” continue to blog
The classic text Metaphors on Vision by filmmaker Stan Brakhage (1933–2003), first published in 1963 as a special issue of "Film Culture," stands as a major theoretical statement by one of avant-garde cinema’s most important figures. Yet despite its undeniable influence, the complete Metaphors has remained out of print in the United States for more than 40 years. In conjunction with the publication of a new, definitive edition by Anthology Film Archives and Light Industry, on Thursday, January 25 at 7PM, the Walker Art Center presents a special screening of Brakhage’s work followed by a discussion with Ed Halter, curator, critic, scholar, and cofounder of Light Industry. continue to blog
FORMAT: Pbk, 8.25 x 11 in. / 212 pgs. LIST PRICE: U.S. $40.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $56 GBP £35.00 ISBN: 9780997910209 PUBLISHER: Anthology Film Archives/Light Industry AVAILABLE: 8/22/2017 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Anthology Film Archives/Light Industry. Edited by P. Adams Sitney.
“Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective … an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of ‘Green?’” So begins Stan Brakhage’s (1933–2003) classic Metaphors on Vision. Originally published in 1963 by Jonas Mekas as a special issue of Film Culture, and designed by George Maciunas, it stands as the major theoretical statement by one of avant-garde cinema’s most influential figures, a treatise on mythopoeia and the nature of visual experience written in a style as idiosyncratic as his art. Long out of print, the volume is now available in this definitive edition from Anthology Film Archives and Light Industry, featuring Brakhage’s complete text in its distinctive original layout, as well as annotations by scholar P. Adams Sitney.
