From: Myron Ort (email suppressed)
Date: Fri Oct 15 2010 - 14:03:42 PDT
some art, beyond just "message", stays "alive".
Myron
On Oct 15, 2010, at 11:09 AM, Matt Helme wrote:
> I'm not. I don't know what you mean?
> Matt
>
> From: Myron Ort <email suppressed>
> To: Experimental Film Discussion List <email suppressed>
> Sent: Fri, October 15, 2010 1:05:48 PM
> Subject: Re: [Frameworks] UbuWeb...HACKED!
>
> Having for years owned a collection of the Brakhage 8mm Songs and
> some other 16mm prints, VHS collections, and now owning the two
> Brakhage Anthologies on DVD and BluRay, and some subscription
> downloads.
> I am very aware of the value and need to watch these particular films
> repeatedly, and then some, on my own schedule and impulse, even
> over a period of years -- whenever the mood of receptivity strikes
> me. How else can this be done?
> I am actually not much interested in work that doesn't need to be or
> doesn't (for me) hold up to such eternally repeated viewings, work
> that is not "timeless". (Actually, for me, only a small percent of
> either "Experimental" work or Narratives really inspire this kind of
> attention.)
> Having watched and studied such a film a hundred + times at home, I
> can hardly wait to see it on the big screen when the occasion might
> arise.
>
> Myron Ort
>
> > I usually find Anna Biller's posts to list to be thoughtful and
> sharp
> > whether I agree with them or not. But the msg. below makes me wonder
> > if Matt Helme is spoofing Ms. Biller's email address:
> >
> >> If they really cared and
> >> wanted to support experimental film they could buy an inexpensive
> >> Brakhage DVD on Amazon and have it shipped to them internationally,
> >> and then Marilyn Brakhage could make a dollar or two or fifty cents
> >> which would be nice.
> >
> > Of course, 'they' do buy the DVDs. What is missing from the
> discussion
> > of film-art-economics an analysis of how audiences for experimental
> > work come to exist -- what has to occur in the life of an individual
> > to make them want to see experimental films, rent experimental
> prints,
> > buy experimental DVDs. How is an appreciation for this out-of-the-
> > mainstream work acquired, and how does it grow and expand? Very few
> > people are going to buy that 'inexpensive' Brakhage DVD unless they
> > have some acquaintance with Brakhage. And how do people in 'the
> > sticks' get such an acquaintance? By things like UbuWeb and
> Karagarga
> > where they can try things out. _Pirates buy more content_ because
> > they've had a path to explore their inquisitiveness within their
> > financial means, develop the taste and appreciation for free that
> are
> > the pre-conditions for making any kind of financial investment.
> >
> > Virtually every form of modern cultural production works this way --
> > first one's free kid, then you pay when you want more and better.
> The
> > clearest example being the relationship between radio airplay and
> > recording sales in pop music, but it's true (if in somewhat diluted
> > form) in other mediums as well.
> >
> >> If no one pays for anything and everyone insists on getting
> >> everything for free,
> >
> > But that is not the case...
> >
> >> we will ONLY have the corporations and the work they produce,
> >> because no one else will be able to afford to produce anything.
> >
> > Which brings up the question, 'how is anyone able to afford to
> produce
> > anything NOW?' And the answer is NOT, 'because of the income
> generated
> > by coop rentals and/or print/dvd sales.' If we ask 'what are the
> > economics of being an experimental filmmaker?' we immediately
> confront
> > the fact that the work itself has little direct market value due to
> > the lack of auratic status inherent in it's mechanical
> > reproducability. AFAIK, no one has ever made a living from the
> > receipts of experimental films. The economic value of such
> filmmaking
> > has always resided in the notoriety it brings to the maker, the kind
> > of opportunities for other channels of income opened by having one's
> > work circulated, noticed, appreciated. These include the ability to
> > obtain grants and other subsidies, to obtain academic positions, and
> > to increase the value of creative work the artist may do in more
> > auratic forms. Matthew Barney is the master of the latter, but I'm
> > sure Michael Snow's sculptures are worth more because he's Michael
> > Snow.
> >
> > We may like this situation or not (I'd rather things worked
> > differently myself) but that's how it is, has been, and is likely to
> > be. Internet forms like UbuWeb don't change that basic equation.
> >
> > I too think it's nice if Marilyn gets some royalty payments, but
> > she'll more in the long run the more people know who Stan was and
> what
> > his work was like, which doesn't happen by magic. And since 'Cats
> > Cradle' and 'Window Water...' are on the DVD I wonder if Jane
> Brakhage
> > or Carolee Schneemann are getting a cut, and if not, where's the
> moral
> > economy in that?
> >
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> >
>
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