Stan Brakhage: 1954–2001

Post-Screening discussion with writer/filmmaker Fred Camper 

Total Runtime: approx. 79 mins. plus reel breaks 

“Stan Brakhage made almost 400 films over 51 years, varying in lengths from nine seconds to four and a quarter hours. In my view, his finest films are not his best known. The filmmaker began his first book on cinema with, ‘How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of “Green” ’? Rather than seeking to limit objects by their names or customary functions, Brakhage sought to know each thing through ‘an adventure in perception.’ The aspiration he expressed toward an eyesight not limited by language was part of a larger project that attempts to cinematically enunciate less what he believed than to discover through filmmaking that which he did not know. Most of his best-known films focus on specific, even familiar, subjects. Most of the films I have chosen for this program are about journeys away from the world we think we understand, toward discoveries that can become different for each viewer, with the goal of inspiring new perceptions and thoughts.” —Fred Camper 

Program includes: 

The Way to Shadow Garden (1954, 10 mins. 16mm) 

Mothlight (1963, 3 mins. 16mm) 

The Riddle of Lumen (1972, 13.5 mins. 16mm) 

Aquarien (1974, 2.5 mins. 16mm) 

Sol (1974, 4 mins. 16mm) 

Absence (1976, 8 mins. 16mm) 

Roman Numeral I (1979, 6 mins. 16mm) 

Arabic 1 (1980, 3.5 mins. 16mm) 

Chartres Series (1994, 9 mins. 16mm) 

Naughts (1994, 5.5 mins. 16mm) 

Spring Cycle (1995, 10 mins. 16mm) 

Micro Garden (2001, 4 mins. 16mm) 

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.