Stan Brakhage

Life behind the beat film-maker's eyes.

Stan Brakhage was an American non-narrative film-maker who made his mark during the Beat Movement era. In fact, he has often been regarded as the most prominent experimental film-maker of the 20th Century. His films are mostly silent and lack a traditional story - aiming more towards a poetic and visual aesethic experience rather than that of a typical story-telling display. He often referred to them as "visual music" or "moving visual thinking" in which he thrived off of several subjects and techniques to keep his audience inclined. His range of time in film spanned anywhere from a few seconds to a couple hours; however, he mostly geared towards a few minute setting. Quite the experimentalist, Brakhage was known for his use of a variety of colors, radient light, and flashes of images in order to keep his audience somewhat guessing as to what might happen next.

To that we owe Brakhage a series of gratitude for his innovation and willingness to be creative with the visual arts in such a way that most film-makers dare never to achieve.

Brakhage's History:

Brakhage was born in 1933 as Robert Sanders in an orphanage in Kansas City, Missouri. Three weeks after his birth, he was adopted by Ludwig and Clara Brakhage, and he was given the name James Stanley Brakhage.

When he grew older, he briefly attended Dartmouth College then left for San Francisco, where he enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute).

Upon his stay, he attained a love and understanding for visual arts through poetry. As a result, he was able to innovate new ways of film-making that stretched beyond avant-garde cinema.

Stan Brakhage died of cancer on March 8, 2003, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City is in the process of preserving all of his films.

Here are a few links to some of Brakhage's short-films.

Desistfilm (1954)

Window Water Baby Moving (1959)

The Garden of Earthly Delights (1981)

Delicacies of Molten Horror Synapse (1991)

"Once you reach the top of a mountain, keep climbing."