Index

Films are listed by title rather than by the filmmaker's name

A

Aesthetics and perception, 9

Afterimages, 95 , 144

Alberti, Leon Battista, 38 , 39 , 179 n.17

Alchemy, 142 -43

Allures (Jordan Belson), 54 , 131 -32

Alpha rhythms, 152

Ames, Adelbert, 63

Anamorphic images, 52 -53

Andrew, Dudley, 2

Anemic cinéma (Marcel Duchamp), 54

Anger, Kenneth, 2 , 14 , 18 , 53 , 123 , 147 ;

and Aleister Crowley, 108 , 110 , 114 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 133 , 186 n.3;

eye of Horus in films of, 14 , 18 , 120 ;

on light, 107 ;

references to Lucifer by, 107 -8, 118 -19, 120 , 121 , 122 ;

sexual implications of films by, 117 -20, 186 n.7;

visionary experience in films of, 108 -22

Anticipation of the Night (Stan Brakhage), 53 , 88 , 90 -91, 92

Arabic Numeral Series (Stan Brakhage), 101 , 103 -5

Aragon, Louis, 12

Argüelles, José, 45

Arnheim, Rudolf, 1 , 56 , 87

Arnulf Rainer (Peter Kubelka), 147 , 174

Around Perception (Pierre Hébert), 147 , 174

Artaud, Antonin, 1 , 75

Art of Vision (Stan Brakhage), 77

Aumont, Jacques, 2

Avant-garde film:

cinematic techniques in, 3 , 47 , 53 ;

definitions of, ix ;

images of eyes in, 13 -20;

visual bias of, 1

B

Babylon Series (Stan Brakhage), 101 , 105

« (Back and Forth ) (Michael Snow), 53 , 153 , 161 -65, 166

Bailey, Samuel, 58

Baillie, Bruce, 96 , 124

Ballet mécanique (Fernand Léger), 14 , 17 , 54 , 174

Baudry, Jean-Louis, 9

Bazin, André, 40 , 42 , 44 -45

Beloff, J. R., 63

Belson, Jordan, 54 , 103 , 124 , 146 , 147 ;

and Stan Brakhage, 103 , 135 -36;

"cosmic eye" in films of, 14 , 19 , 133 ;

on hallucinatory images, 130 -31;

mandalas in films of, 131 ;

on mental and cinematic images, 131 ;

visionary experience in the films of, 130 -36

Berenson, Bernard, 62

Berger, John, 46

Berkeley, George (Bishop), 58 , 60 , 181 n.18

Bernstein, Michael, 114

Blake, William, 56 , 84 , 101

Blindness, vision after, 59 -60, 61 , 62 , 64

Blood of the Poet (Jean Cocteau), 14 , 17 , 174

Bolero (Albie Thoms), 156 , 174

Bower, T. G. R., 65

Boynton, R. M., 23 -25

Brakhage, Jane, 73 , 79

Brakhage, Stan:

and Jordan Belson, 103 , 135 -36;

on cameras, 8 , 9 ;

and "closed eye vision," 72 , 92 -100, 127 ;

compared with Michael Snow, 154 , 161 ;

critical reception of, 77 , 80 , 91 , 183 n.13;

as documentary filmmaker, 78 -80;

experimental techniques of, 47 , 53 , 54 , 75 , 93 , 94 , 100 , 147 ;

eye in films of, 14 ;

on eye movements, 86 -87;

hand-held camera used by, 85 -91, 161 ;

hypnagogic vision and films of, 94 -100;

"imagnostic" imagery in films of, 103 -5;

on light saturation, 73 ;

painting on film by, 92 -94;

on perspective, 45 , 47 -48;

on physiological basis of art, 84 -85, 105 ;

and proprioception, 82 -84;

on religion and art, 124 ;

significance of light for, 12 , 100 -105, 107 ;

social mission of, 80 ;

on television, 98 -99;

and the "untutored eye," 7 , 55 , 66 , 74 -75;

on vision, 1 , 77 -78, 125 ;

visual renewal in films of, 81 -85, 86.

See also Infant vision; Innocent eye

Brando, Marlon, 118

Breakfast (Table Top Dolly) (Michael Snow), 190 n.20

Breer, Robert, 124 , 147

Broughton, James, 126

C

Cage, The (Sidney Peterson), 14 , 18 , 174

Camera, eye compared with, 8 , 14 , 21 -30, 124

Camera lens, 75 , 180 n.47

Cameraless films, 54

Camera movement:

in films of Brakhage, 85 -91;

in films of Snow, 161 -65, 166 -71, 190 n.20

Camera obscura,34 -37, 42 -43

Camper, Fred, 77 , 80 , 183 n.13

Castaneda, Carlos, 125

Cézanne, Paul, 62 , 155 , 167

Chakra (Jordan Belson), 174

Cheselden, William, 59

Chien andalou (Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali), 14 , 16 , 174

Children's art:

mandalas in, 129 ;

and vision, 71 , 95 , 129

Cinematic apparatus, 3 , 152

Cinematic image, 25 , 28 , 43

Cinetude 2 (Keith Rodan), 147 , 174

Citizen Kane (Orson Welles), 97

Clark, Claudine, 112

Clark, Dan, 81 , 82

Cocteau, Jean, 14 , 17

Comolli, Jean-Louis, 9

Condillac, Étienne Bonnot de, 58 , 60 , 61

Conner, Bruce, 2

Conrad, Tony, 54

Cornwell, Regina, 155 , 167

Creation (Jordan Belson), 107

Creeley, Robert, 77

Crowley, Aleister.

See Anger, Kenneth: and Aleister Crowley

Curtis, David, 4

Cycles (Jordan Belson), 136

D

Davenport, Guy, 14

da Vinci, Leonardo, 35 , 38

Delluc, Louis, 11 , 12

Deren, Maya, 12

Descartes, René, 32 -34, 35 , 43 , 58

Desistfilm (Stan Brakhage), 85 -86, 105

Dewdney, Kee, 147

Dog Star Man (Stan Brakhage), 81 -83, 85 , 88 , 94

Dolly shot, 156 -57, 190 n.20

Duchamp, Marcel, 54

Dulac, Germaine, 1 , 8 , 11 , 12

Duncan, David Douglas, 29

Dürer, Albrecht, 39 , 41

Dwija (James Whitney), 141 -44

E

Eaux d'artifice (Kenneth Anger), 114 -16, 120 , 121 -22

Edgerton, Samuel, 45

Egyptian Series (Stan Brakhage), 101 , 105

Elder, Bruce, 154

Eleusinian mysteries, 119

Eliot, T. S., 134

Emak Bakia (Man Ray), 1 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 54 , 174

Emshwiller, Ed, 53

Epstein, Jean, 8 , 11

Erigena, Johannes Scotus, 100 , 101

Essence of film, 11 -13

Etoile de mer (Man Ray), 53 , 174

F

Film No. 6 (Stan Brakhage), 66

Fireworks (Kenneth Anger), 117 , 118 -19

Fischinger, Oskar, 124

Five Film Exercises (James and John Whitney), 136

Flicker, The (Tony Conrad), 54 , 147 , 174

Flicker effect, 54 , 57 , 146 -52

Foveal vision, 3 , 43

G

Galassi, Peter, 42

Gehr, Ernie, 12 , 50

Geography of the Body (Willard Maas), 14 , 19 , 174

Gesell, Arnold, 29 , 87

Gibson, James J.

See Visual field and visual world

Gidal, Peter, 5

Gombrich, E. H., 7 , 62 -64, 69 , 74 , 182 n.37

Gregory, R. L., 13 , 43 , 44 , 63 , 64 , 66

Grosseteste, Robert (Bishop), 100

Guillén, Claudio, 46 , 52

H

Hallucinations, 126 -30, 131 , 135 , 140 , 148

Health, Stephen, 46

Hebb, D. O., 58

Hérigone, Pierre, 36

High Voltage (James Whitney), 141 , 188 n.38

Holbein, Hans, 52

Hooke, Robert, 36

Hull, Clark Leonard, 58

Huxley, Aldous:

on flicker effect, 148 ;

on the innocent eye, 56 , 59 ;

on preternatural light, 108 -9, 110 , 114 , 122 , 126

Hypnagogic vision, 3 , 94 , 97 , 143

I

Impressionism, 62

Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (Kenneth Anger), 14 , 109 -10, 112 , 118 , 119 , 186 n.7

Infant vision, 60 -61, 64 -65

Infinity (Jordan Belson), 19 , 131 , 136

Innocent eye:

descriptions of, 55 -57, 61 -62, 67 -74;

Gombrich's critique of, 62 -64;

as metaphor, 66 ;

in theories of visual perception, 57 -61.

See also Brakhage, Stan: and the "untutored eye"

Internal sources of vision, 3 , 72 , 140 , 143 .

See also Brakhage, Stan: and "closed eye vision"; Hypnagogic vision; Phosphenes; Visual "noise"

Invocation of My Demon Brother (Kenneth Anger), 14 , 18 , 53 , 108 , 120 , 121 , 186 n.7

Ittelson, W. H., 63

Ivins, William, 38 , 40 , 43

J

Jackson, Jim, 67 , 73

James, David, 5 -6, 154

James, William, 58 , 61

Julesz, Bela, 145 -46

K

Kang Jing Xiang (James Whitney), 145

Keller, Marjorie, 118

Kellogg, Rhoda, 95 , 129

Kelly, Robert, 77 , 92 , 94

Kelman, Ken, 90

Kepler, Johannes, 34 , 57

Klüver, Heinrich, 126

Kovaks, Steven, 13

Kubelka, Peter, 32

Kühne, Willy, 22 -23

Kustom Kar Kommandos (Kenneth Anger), 113 , 115 , 117 , 120

L

Lapis (James Whitney), 54 , 138 , 140 , 141 , 143

Lead Shoes, The (Sidney Peterson), 52 , 174

Léger, Fernand, 1 , 14 , 17 , 53

Le Grice, Malcolm, 5

Li (James Whitney), 145 -46

Light:

and film, 12 , 26 , 28 ;

and visionary experiences, 109 ;

and visual perception, 13 , 28 , 58 , 60

Light (Jordan Belson), 131 , 134 -35, 136

Light saturation, 73 -74

Lindberg, David C., 34

Lipton, Lenny, 4 , 71 -72

Locke, John, 58

Locke, John W., 170

Loving (Stan Brakhage), 88

Lucifer Rising (Kenneth Anger), 121

Lye, Len, 54

M

Maas, Willard, 14 , 19

McClure, Michael, 84 , 91

McLaren, Norman, 54

Magick Lantern Cycle (Kenneth Anger), 119

Mahayana Buddhism, 130

Malebranche, Nicolas de, 58

Mandalas, 71 -72, 129 , 131 , 140 , 148 , 149

Man Ray, 1 , 14 , 53

Man with A Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov), 9 , 13 , 15 , 174

Martin, Jay, ix

Mead, G. R. S., 119

Meditation, 139 , 148

Meditation (Jordan Belson), 131 , 133 , 136

Mekas, Jonas, 12 , 57 , 84 , 118 , 123 , 147 , 148

Mellencamp, Patricia, 5

Michelson, Annette, 91 , 154 , 185 n.45

Mill, John Stuart, 57

Moholy-Nagy, Laszlo, 13

Molyneux, William, 58 , 59

Monet, Claude, 31 , 62

Moritz, William, 145

Mothlight (Stan Brakhage), 54

Movement, effect on vision of, 13 , 25 , 27 , 86 -87, 181 n.18

Mr. Frenhofer and the Minotaur (Sidney Peterson), 29 , 52 , 174

Müller, Johannes, 58

Murder Psalm (Stan Brakhage), 47 , 48 , 97 -98

Murphy, J. J., 2

Music of the Spheres (Jordan Belson), 136

N

Nichols, Bill, 182 n.47

N:O:T:H:I:N:G (Paul Sharits), 149

N.Y., N.Y. (Francis Thompson), 174 , 180 n.47

O

Ornstein, Robert, 60 , 152

Oster, Gerald, 70 -71, 128

P

Parris Sisters, 113

Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich, 58

Peripheral vision, 3 , 67 , 74

Perspective:

avant-garde filmmakers challenge conventions of, 46 -53, 180 n.47;

as cultural concept, 40 -42, 43 -46, 179 n.17;

definition of, 37 -38;

and photographic images, 6 -7, 42 , 44 ;

and vision, 38 -39

Peterson, Sidney, 14 , 18 , 52 -53

Phosphenes, 3 , 27 , 70 -71, 79 , 93 , 97 , 128 , 129

Photogénie , 11 -12

Picasso, Pablo, 29

Piece Mandala/End War (Paul Sharits), 149 -51

Pirenne, M. H., 65

Plotinus, 120

Poggioli, Renato, 11

Polan, Dana, 5

Pollock, Jackson, 137

Popper, Karl, 182 n.37

Pound, Ezra, 100

Presents (Michael Snow), 190 n.20

Proprioception, 82 -84

Psychedelic drugs, 56 , 57 , 108 , 123 , 126

Puce Moment (Kenneth Anger), 111 -12, 115 , 119 , 120

R

Rabbit's Moon (Kenneth Anger), 107 , 117 -18, 120

Raindance (Standish Lawder), 147 , 174

Raphael (Raffaello Santi), 32

Ray Gun Virus (Paul Sharits), 147

Razor Blades (Paul Sharits), 149

Read, Herbert, 42

Région Centrale (Michael Snow), 53 , 153 , 161 , 165 -71

Reich, Wilhelm, 72

Relativity (Ed Emshwiller), 53

Retina, light sensitivity of film compared to, 21 -22

Retinal image, 27 , 43 , 44 , 65 ;

formation of, 32 -37;

image in camera obscura compared with, 35 ;

as if "painted" on retina, 37 ;

photographic image compared with, 22 -24

Richter, Hans, 1

Roman Numeral Series (Stan Brakhage), 101 , 103 -5

Ronchi, Vasco, 75

Rose, Albert, 71

Ruskin, John, 61 -62, 63

S

Salinger, J. D., 55

Samadhi (Jordan Belson), 125 , 130 , 174

Scenes From Under Childhood (Stan Brakhage), 94 -97, 105 , 135

Scheiner, Christopher, 32 , 34

Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger), 111 -13, 115 -16, 118 -20

Seashell and the Clergyman (Germaine Dulac), 1

Senden, Marius von, 59

Serene Velocity (Ernie Gehr), 50 -51, 174

Sharits, Paul, 2 , 14 , 16 , 54 , 124 , 146 -52;

flicker effects in films of, 147 -49;

on inner vision, 127 ;

on mandalas, 149

Siegel, Ronald, 126 -30

Sirius Remembered (Stan Brakhage), 88 -90

Sitney, P. Adams, 4 , 51 , 54 , 78 , 79 , 90 , 91 , 154

Small, Edward, and Joseph Anderson, 148 , 152

Smith, Harry, 54

Snow, Michael, 2 , 51 , 53 , 147 ;

camera movement in films of, 161 -71, 190 n.20;

on cameras and perception, 153 -54, 156 , 160 , 161 , 166 , 169 ;

compared with Brakhage, 154 ;

critical reception of, 154 -55, 189 n.9;

ecstatic (transcendental) experience produced by films of, 154 , 160 , 161 , 164 -65, 166 , 170 ;

on light and time, 12 ;

on mechanical basis of cinema, 154 , 166 ;

and structural film, 154 ;

zoom shot used by, 155 -61, 190 n.18

Snyder, Joel, 31

Solarization, 141 -42

Song I (Stan Brakhage), 14 , 20

Song XII (Stan Brakhage), 48 -49

Songs (Stan Brakhage), 93

Spherical Spaces No. 1 (Stan Vanderbeek), 174 , 180 n.47

Stapledon, Olaf, 54

T

Taylor, Brook, 39

Tenney, James, 87

Text of Light (Stan Brakhage), 101 -3, 134 , 135

Thigh Line Lyre Triangular (Stan Brakhage), 92

Thoms, Albie, 156

Tolkien, J. R. R., 56

T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G (Paul Sharits), 14 , 16 , 149

Turim, Maureen, 5

23rd Psalm Branch (Stan Brakhage), 98 -100

Tyler, Parker, 5 , 91

V

Vanderbeek, Stan, 123

Vertov, Dziga, 1 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 14

Vinton, Bobby, 112

Vision, film's relationship to, 13 , 25 -26

Visionary experiences, 108 -9, 124 -26, 165

Visual field and visual world, 68 -70, 84 , 182 n.47

Visual "noise," 3 , 71 -72, 79 , 93 , 97 , 128 , 129

Visual perception:

associationist theories of, 58 -61, 181 n.18;

"best bet" theory of, 63 -64;

and Gestalt psychology, 2 , 128 ;

nativist theories of, 58 ;

neural processes of, 26 -28

Vorkapich, Slavko, 2 , 12 , 182 n.47

W

Wald, George, 21 -23

"Waterfall effect," 170 -71

Watson, John, 58

Watts, Alan, 56

Wavelength (Michael Snow), 51 -52, 153 , 155 -61, 162 , 166

Weiland, Joyce, 171

Werblin, Frank S., 22

Whitney, James, 54 , 124 , 147 ;

and alchemy, 137 , 142 -43, 145 ;

"dot patterns" in the films of, 136 , 138 , 140 , 141 , 144 , 145 , 146 ;

hallucinations and films of, 136 , 139 -41;

on "imagelessness," 144 ;

influences on, 136 -37;

mandalas in films of, 137 -38, 140 , 144 , 145 ;

and Raku pottery, 143 ;

solarization in films of, 141 -42, 145

Whitney, John, 136

Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 125 -26

World (Jordan Belson), 174

Wu Ming (James Whitney), 144 -45

Y

Yantra (James Whitney), 54 , 137 , 138 -40, 141 , 143

Yantras, 138 -39, 165

Yantra Study (James Whitney), 137 -38, 141

Youngblood, Gene, 5

Z

Zimmer, Heinrich, 139

Zoom shot, 155 -61, 190 n.18