Dog Star Man // THE ANTI ARTISTS

+++

THE CREATION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD SHOULD NOT BE CONTAINED IN ANY ONE FILM. ARTISTS AER NOT WELL ADJUSTED PEOPLE AND SHOULD BE THEMSELVES CONTAINED. A STRIP OF FILM IS DIVIDED INTO FRAMES. ON EACH FRAME IS PAINTED INSIDE EYELIDS—BRAKHAGE—THE MOON SWALLOWED BY THE SUN—BRAKHAGE—FUR SHIFTING GRASSES PALE LIGHT OF DAWN TRAFFIC LIGHTS CLOUDS DRIFTING OVERHEAD THE SUN BENEATH A MICROSCOPE—BRAKHAGE, DEATH TO—CONSCIOUSNESS CANNOT BE PAINTED ONTO A FRAME, THE PAINT CRACKS, FISSURES—FLAMES IMMOLATE BLOBS INCORPORATE PINPRICK SKIES—THE MOON SLOWLY TURNS, REAPPEARS IN OCEAN OF WHAT MUST BE DOG FUR.

THIS FILM MAKES NO F***ING SENSE IS ONE OF REASONS WE HAVE SUBMITTED HERE TO BE PERMANENTLY ERASED. THERE IS NO F***ING SOUND FOR ONE THING. THERE IS NO MUSIC AND NO SOUND EFFECTS. THERE IS NO EXPLANATION FOR EXISTENCE FOR EXAMPLE. ART SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. SHOULD NOT EXIST. SHOULD BE DESTROYED. STARTING YEAH YOU GUESSED IT WITH THIS F***ING FILM.

(THERE ARE HOWEVER EX-CINEPHILES IN ASTRONAUT SUITS TO PROTECT AGAINST COSMIC RAYS THIS FILM IS GIVING OFF WHO HAVE DETERMINED THROUGH REPEATED VIEWINGS THE EXISTENCE OF A PLOT.)

A DOG’S EYES OPEN ONTO SUN. MORNING. WE ARE OUTSIDE. THE MAN WAS UP ALL NIGHT. HIS MIND FILLED IN WITH COLD DEAD SKIN OF MOON. THE DOG LICKS HIM AWAKE IN SUNLIGHT. MUST HAVE SLEPT SOME AFTER ALL. DARK FORESTS CRAWL OVER THE MOON. HE IS STILL ASLEEP. BRIGHT RED. REPEATED USE SOLAR FLARE IMAGERY. FILMMAKER ADMITS TO USING IMAGES FROM BOULDER OBSERVATORY, TOO COWARDLY TO GO HIMSELF WITH CAMERA TO THE SUN. THE SUN IS FAR AWAY, HE USES AS EXCUSE. FURTHER EVIDENCE OF LOW MORAL CHARACTER AND WEAKNESS OF PERSONALITY TYPES OF ARTISTS IN GENERAL. BODY PARTS OF NAKED WOMEN. VIEWS OF INSIDE HUMAN HEARTBEAT. STARRY NIGHT SKY BLOTTED OUT BY FORESTS. THUDDING DRUMBEAT SHEEN OF MYOCARDIUM. DAYTIME CLOSEUP ON WINTER GRASS. WET RED//CARDIAC BLOOD—SCINTILLATING FRAGMENTS CORONAL STREETLIGHTS PAVEMENT WET FROM RAIN—A WOMAN’S PALE BODY, HER BREASTS HANGING DOWN OUT OF DARK SHE REARRANGES HERSELF GETTING COMFORTABLE—SUNLIGHT FROM ANOTHER SCENE PLAYS OVER SNOW-COVERED FORESTS, FAR BELOW—BRIGHT RED CURTAINS APPROACHING, CITY LIGHTS—THE DEAD MOON, DISTENDED LIKE A FINGERPRINT, THE FOREHEAD OF A DEFORMED CHILD—SNOWY WOODS—A HOUSE—PAINT AND LIGHT—PAINT AND LIGHT—A TUNNEL OF LIGHT APPEARS AMID FIRS—PAINT SWARMS THE SUN—LIFE DISCOVERED ON THE MOON, THE SMOKE OF PEOPLE DRIFTS ACROSS ITS FACE—MOTION OF LIGHT ON VISCERA—GHOSTLY FLORA—PINK LIGHT BUBBLING RECEDING INTO SOFT ORANGE GLOW, GROWING AGAIN, LIKE CARCINOMA—DEATH TO STAN BRAKHAGE—INSIDE OF HUMAN BODY, DESTROYED BY PAINT—CLOUD BANK LIT BY SUNRISE OVER HILLTOP—RUNNING WOODS OF SNOW IN DAYTIME//EVENING—CANCER CELLS FORMING IN BLADDER—DOG IN SNOW—THE SUN IS BRIGHT, YELLOW, FAR AWAY—A RED DIAMOND IN A DARK EXPANSE—LANDSCAPES—FILM FRAMES PAINTED, SCRATCHED—DEATH TO STAN BRAKHAGE—THE ARTIST’S HANDS HIS PRESENCE MAY BE FELT AS SOMETHING HUMAN, WITH WARMTH AND MIND, A LIVING FORCE—VERTIGO, TREES—HEXAGONAL LENS FLARES—CLOSE-UPS ON THE SUN, SOMEONE IN MOTION, IN MOTION, SOMEONE IN MOTION—A TREE IS FELLED—BLUE LIGHT SHOT THROUGH BY RED—THE MAN(THE FILMMAKER?)’S BEARDED FACE CAPTURED IN A MOMENT OF PANICK—BLOOD IS MADE OUT OF PAINT—EVERY COLOR—THE MAN CHOPPING DOWN THE TREE, TREE FALLS SIELNCE ON STONE—THE WOMAN NAKED AND SOFT, HER FACE DISTENDED—THE MOON OUT OF FOCUS, THE MARIA DARK AS CHARCOAL—THE MAN SWINGS THE AXE—THE MAN AND WOMAN IN ORANGE LIGHT, THEIR BODIES ENTWINED—AN INFANT SUCKLES FROM WOMAN’S BREAST—MAN JOYFUL WITHOUT SHIRT ON ON FOREST FLOOR, LIFTS NEWBORN INTO AIR—UNPLANNED NETWORK//TWIGS BRANCHES—OVERWHELMING LIGHT—THE MAN’S LONG HAIR, TRAILING DOWN—HAIRY CHEST IN CLOSE-UP—BEARD, GLOWING TEETH + EYELIDS—SOMEONE IS ASLEEP—EMPYREANIC SCRIBBLES THE SUN SCRATCHED BY SHARP OBJECTS UNKNOWN TO VIEWER, CAUSE FOR SUSPICION—PALE GRASS—FORESTS BENDING (DUE TO LENS EFFECT, IRRESPONSIBLE AND OSTENTATIOUS)—A STAND OF TREES SCROLLS RIGHT TO LEFT, THE WOODS DIFFUSED WITH LIGHT … THERE ARE MOMENTS OF DARKNESS IN THIS FILM THAT CANNOT BE ACCOUNTED FOR, OCCASIONAL PASSING LIHGT OR FLICKERING—WOMAN’S NAKED TORSO GLARING ORANGE WITH CLOUDS OFF BEHIND HER AS IF SHE WERE SUNRISE—FAST-DAPPLED WATER COLOR LIKE MONÉT IN KINDERGARTEN—ROTHKO TORNADOES—CRACKING BLACK PAINT SUPERIMPOSED OVER TREE LINE SILHOUETTED AGAINST CLOUDS CHANGES IMPERCEPTIBLY TO TRANSPARENT TREE BRANCHES, HAIR FLYING CHOPPING WOOD, PINK LENS WHITE LENS YELLOW LENS—SUNRISE OVER CANCEROUS CELLS—THE TREES, AGAIN—THE FOREST—COVERED IN SNOW—THE END.

AND THAT’S JUST THE PRELUDE.

GREEN YELLOW LIGHT FILLS THE PILLAR-BOXED SCREEN. THEN THE TITLE CARD:

DOG STAR MAN.

BY BRAKHAGE.

IN STYLIZED SCRIPT, LIKE TRIBAL FACE PAINT.

WHAT FOLLOWS IS SIMILAR TO WHAT PRECEDED … A MAN WHOSE NAME WE FIND WE ARE UNABLE TO OBTAIN EVEN THROUGH REPEATED VIEWINGS OF WHAT SHOULD NOT BE WATCHED BUT INSTEAD FED INTO THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL (IF ORIGINAL FILM MIGHT STILL EXIST, PERHAPS OBTAINED AND TURNED INTO ASH AND SUBSEQUENTLY PERMANENTLY TOILET FLUSHED INTO OBSCURITY) CLIMBS A BRIGHT SNOWY HILL WITH HIS DOG. HE CARRIES AN AXE LEANED AGAINST HIS SHOULDER. PLAY THE FILM A THOUSAND TIMES, HE WILL STILL BE STRUGGLING. HE STRUGGLES STRUGGLES STRUGGLES UP THE HILLSIDE. HIS FINGERS TOUCH THE SPARKLING SNOW. ON FIRST VIEWING THOUGHT HE TOUCHED THE MILKY WAY. IT LOOKS LIKE STARS. LIKE SCIENCE FICTION. AND HE CLIMBS. AND HE STRUGGLES UP THE HILL. A GREEN SUN FILLS IN THE WORLD. AND HIS DOG JUMPS AND CLIMBS BESIDE HIM.

IN PART 2, A BABY TAKES OVER THE FILM.

IN PART 3, THE WORLD IS DESTROYED AND REMADE INTO IMAGES.

IN PART 4, THERE IS A HOUSE, A CRACKLING FIRE. LIVES ARE BEING LIVED OUT AS MEMORIES.

THIS FILM IS AN EXAMPLE WHY ART MUST BE MADE ILLEGAL. WATCH IT AND YOU WILL AGREE.

BIO:

IN THE YEAR 2084 THE ANTI ARTISTS IS A LEADING ANTI ART TERROR ORGANIZATION. THERE ARE MORE ARTISTS ALIVE TODAY THAN THERE HAVE EVER BEEN—ALIVE AND DEAD, COMBINED—IN ALL OF MODERN HISTORY. HUMAN SOCIETY IS DESIGNED TO LIMIT REALITY. ART CREATES NEW OTHER REALITIES. HUMAN SOCIETY NO LONGER EXISTS AND CAN ONLY BE RETURNED BY DESTROYING THE PLANET AND GOING INTO SPACE.

+++

Ryan Raymond Buell is a Minneapolis based writer. His short story “EXIT REALITY: A DIY Tutorial” is available as a video game on CLOAK.wtf

Leave a comment