David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


07 January 2013

The third said, "It is the mind that movies" - The Gateless Gate

       
As part of its Sunday nights Arts Doco season, 
ABC TV1 last night screened SIDE BY SIDE.
For almost one hundred years there was only one way to make a movie — with film.
 
Movies were shot, edited and projected using photochemical film. But over the last two decades a digital process has emerged to challenge photochemical film-making.

SIDE BY SIDE, a new documentary produced by Keanu Reeves, takes an in-depth look at this revolution. Through interviews with directors, cinematographers, film students, producers, technologists, editors, and exhibitors, SIDE BY SIDE examines all aspects of filmmaking — from capture to edit, visual effects to color correction, distribution to archive. At this moment when digital and photochemical filmmaking coexist, SIDE BY SIDE explores what has been gained, what is lost, and what the future might bring.

    
Gale Ann Hurd and James Cameron as
The Supreme Goddess as Void with projection-space for image

At one  point, Kenu Reeves put to James Cameron (The Terminator, Aliens, Avatar) a concern that some express about digital and cgi composition losing touch with The Real Thing. 

Cameron's reply...
       

click image to enlarge
        
WHATSMORE starting tomorrow night on SBS 2 is Mark Cousins' epic 15-part series on the evolution of cinema.
        
The Story of Film - An Odyssey
               

     
And sure enough, in the penultimate episode, there's that real anxiety again.

 Episode 14: January 30, 9:30pm
The 1990s: The First Days of Digital - Reality Losing Its Realness in America and Australia
    
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ...

 LOGOS/HA HA
 (I, projector)