The hand-painted films of Stan Brakhage: An interdisciplinary and phenomenological exploration of painted moving images Victoria Smith The thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth. September 2018 i Abstract This thesis examines the latter hand-painted films of American avant-garde filmmaker, Stan Brakhage. These films, produced in the last few decades of the twentieth century, have suffered from critical neglect. They have also suffered from their historical and methodological framing within the renowned American avant- garde film movement. I argue that such approaches have resulted in inaccurate and unhelpful academic appraisals of these artworks. This thesis addresses the neglect of the hand-painted works by presenting a new methodological and epistemic approach to this collection of films, which relocates the works outside the medium of film. Based on a wide range of primary and secondary evidence, it brings together phenomenological, interdisciplinary and performative lines of enquiry, considering both the production and reception of the films. The project also offers a greater understanding of Brakhage’s own experience of his hand-painted films and the artworks themselves as products. As a result, a new and creative understanding of the hand-painted works has been developed that investigates the abstract and musical possibilities of the painted images through the concepts of visual music and visual narrative. In addition to the production process, this project also extends current scholarship on the performative process of reception, through a comprehensive study of the role of the audience. It argues for the increased relevance of reception for the hand- painted films, presenting an understanding of audience members as co-creators of meaning. This line of theoretical enquiry is evidenced through a qualitative and empirical reception study, engaging directly with audience members of a hand- painted film. A focus group, held at Southsea Sangha in October 2017, provides an original exploration of the possibilities of mindfulness and meditation as means of engaging with subjective audience experiences of reception. ii Declaration Whilst registered as a candidate for the above degree, I have not been registered for any other research award. The results and conclusions embodied in this thesis are the work of the named candidate and have not been submitted for any other academic award Word count: 92,805 iii Acknowledgements I am hugely grateful to my first supervisor, Dr Laurie Ede, for all of his help and support in shaping this project over the last six years. His encouragement, guidance and interest in the project has been invaluable and has played a crucial part in my research journey. I am also thankful for the wonderful support and advice I have received from Dr Joanna Bucknall, whose knowledge and understanding of performance knows no boundaries! To Karen Sav- age, thank you for introducing me to the works of Stan Brakhage nearly a decade ago and for all your support in developing my initial research in this area. Your teaching (and pas- sion) in the field of interdisciplinary arts truly inspired me. I am very grateful to all my family and friends for their continuous encouragement over the years. Diane and Philip Smith have always been encouraging and supportive, and have al- ways believed in me. John and Joyce Glover have also been so supportive and helped me in so many ways throughout this study and I would like to dedicate this thesis to them. To Hannah Peratopoullos, my closest friend, thank you so much for all of your constant en- couragement and help, and for always being willing to be my technical guru (even when you really didn’t want to be)! It has been hugely appreciated and I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you to the staff at the Brakhage Centre, University of Colorado, who gave me such a memorable and special research trip. The research I gained there has been highly valuable to this study and has helped me better understand the man and filmmaker that was Stan Brakhage. To Daniel Sutton-Johanson and the members of Southsea Sangha, thank you for your kind- ness and willingness to support my research- I am very grateful for the wonderful and car- ing meditation community you have created. Finally, to Stan Brakhage for the beautiful hand-painted films you created that are the sub- ject of this study. iv Table of Contents Abstract ii Declaration iii Acknowledgements iv Introduction 1 Production 15 Chapter One: Introducing the Second Stage Collection 16 Chapter Two: The Filmmaker’s Experience 41 Chapter Three: The product or the process? A consideration of representation and abstraction 76 Reception 99 Chapter Four: The Interdisciplinary Product: Developing the Visual Narrative 100 Chapter Five: The Interdisciplinary Process: a performative, co-creative and live reception 137 Chapter Six: Re-approaching Stan Brakhage: A new qualitative and empirical method of reception 171 Part One: Designing an empirical method of reception for the hand-painted works 171 Part Two: A qualitative focus group into the hand-painted works at Southsea Sangha 192 Conclusion 210 Bibliography 224 Films referenced 255 Other artworks referenced 259 Appendices 260 Appendix One: 261 Appendix Two: 264 Appendix Three: 282 Appendix Four: 283 Appendix Five: 285 Appendix Six: 286 Appendix Seven: 293 v List of Figures Fig. 1: The layout at Southsea Sangha for the screening (left) and the focus group session (right) 197 Fig. 2: Participants during the focus group 199 vi Introduction This work aims to provide new insights into the hand-painted films of the late American filmmaker, Stan Brakhage (1933-2003). Brakhage is best known for his camera-made films released in the 1950s and 1960s, which are framed within the American avant-garde film movement. He is, however, less well-known for his hand-painted films produced in the latter decades of the twentieth century. These works moved beyond filming concrete things using the camera, as Brakhage redirected his art towards painted images that moved through light. These films centre around multi-coloured images, where different shapes and shades of col- our flicker rapidly in diverse patterns across the screen, interspersed with significant mo- ments of light and darkness. This thesis will explore the critical neglect of Brakhage’s hand- painted films. Moreover, it will seek to address it. Brakhage is a revered figure of the avant-garde and he has become a crucial figure in the history of alternative film, many of his early films celebrated as part of the avant-garde canon. In contrast, the painted works have been treated largely as secondary experimental works. This has led to a skewed historical impression of Brakhage’s creativity, built on critical clichés of avant-garde practice. This thesis will show that the existing understanding of avant- garde film that has been assumed relevant to the hand-painted works is not applicable. In- stead, a new critical approach to the hand-painted works is needed. A reconsideration of Brakhage will respond to the aesthetic essence of the hand-painted works. By moving away from existing approaches of Brakhage and his more prominent works, this thesis aims to develop a new identity for the hand-painted films outside of their current filmic understand- ing. The inspiration for this thesis has come from my own personal experiences of Brakhage’s hand-painted works. I have seen a range of the artist’s films made throughout his career but the striking aesthetic qualities of the hand-painted films have left the greatest impression on me. I was drawn to this style of artwork for the first time around nine years ago, but initially struggled to understand why it resonated with me so strongly. Whilst I could witness and recognise the significance of the viewing for myself, it was difficult to understand and ver- balise my experience of the visual artwork. The works disrupted so many of my expectations of film and I shortly found that existing critical film literature offered little insight into Brakhage’s latter style. There was much literature on Brakhage and his earlier achievements in avant-garde film, but the analyses of Brakhage’s hand-painted films were few and cursory. The premise for this thesis therefore evolved as a result of my interest in this under-explored 1 body of hand-painted films. Further research has developed my frustration with the lack of existing critical work on these artworks and the limited approaches available that consider how these works can offer meaningful viewing experiences. Statement of method I hope that this thesis will develop the current understanding of Brakhage’s hand-painted works. The work will be investigated through three key areas: 1) Identification: Exploring and challenging the existing, clichéd avant-garde approach to the works in order to identify a more relevant and useful understanding of them 2) An interdisciplinary investigation: Re-analysing the significance of existing film and avant-garde approaches in order to create a new, eclectic methodology that moves beyond specific media and standard philosophical positions between film and other visual art 3) A new epistemic approach: The limitations of existing research and academic ap- proaches will help shape a new methodology that considers how the artworks can be experienced meaningfully I will achieve these three critical outcomes by adopting and considering four existing re- search methods: the history of the American avant-garde film movement, interdisciplinary approaches to art, the philosophy of phenomenology, and the roles of production and re- ception. The American avant-garde film movement It is hard to argue against Stan Brakhage’s current location within the avant-garde move- ment.