A Body of Vision: Representations of the Body in Recent Film and Poetry

409 Pages·1998·24.102 MB·English

by  R. Bruce Elder

A BODY OF \1S10N
Representations of the Body
in Recent Film and Poetry
R. Bruce Elder
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities
and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Elder, Bruce (R. Bruce)
A body of vision : representations of the body in recent
film and poetry
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-88920-276-1
1. Body, Human, in motion pictures. 2. Experimental
films - History and criticism. I. Title.
PN1995.9.E96E482 1997 791.43'65 C96-931982-7
Copyright © 1997
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L3C5
Cover design by Leslie Macredie, using a still from the film Exultations (In Light of
the Great Giving) by R. Bruce Elder
Printed in Canada
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may
be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or
mechanical—without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for
photocopying, recording, taping, or reproducing in information storage and retrieval
systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprog-
raphy Collective, 214 King Street West, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S6.
Contents
With Gratitude v
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
The Human Dilemma 21
The Anxious Body of Shame, Disgust, or Appalling Death:
Films by Bruce Conner 24
The Troubling Body of Sexual Difference: Williard Maas's
The Geography of the Body 36
The Complexities of Identification—Walter Gutman
and the Body Remade as Whole 65
The Body as Sacred—The Films of James Broughton,
Especially The Golden Positions 70
The Body and the Cosmos—The Films of
EdEmshwiller 85
First Digression: The Theory of Transformation and
Its Importance to Understanding the
Uniqueness of Artistic Meaning 97
Ed Emshwiller's Mixed Mode of Cinema Contrasted
with the Lyrical Film 116
The Body as the Universe in Stan Brakhage's
Early Films 140
The Body Electric: Of Wilhelm Reich and Antonin Artaud—
Laying the Groundwork for Carolee Schneemann's
Body Art 143
iii
iv A Body of Vision
Second Digression: A Mystical View of the Body under the
Pervasive Influence of Gnosticism—Laying the
Groundwork for Leonard Cohen's Writings on the
Body and Carolee Schneemann's
Films and Performances 191
Leonard Cohen's Gnosticism and Its Influence
on His Conception of the Body 210
The Influence of Gnosticism on the Writings
of Antonin Artaud 223
The Body of Gnostic Energy in the Work of
Carolee Schneemann 233
The Body of Transcendental Flesh—The Films
of James Herbert 276
The Cognitive Body—The Films of Amy Greenfield and
Another View of the Films of Stan Brakhage 294
The Pneumatic Body—The Films of Andrew Noren 316
Notes 351
Bibliography 381
Index 385
With Gratitude
I owe a great deal to many people. In the spring of 1989, when I was under
attack from all quarters for using images of the body in my films, the orga-
nizers of the Toronto International Avant-garde Film Congress invited me to
present a program of films by other filmmakers that incorporate similar
images. This opportunity required me to reflect on the topic that has become
the subject of this book. The Congress also provided, in the form of one its
panel discussions, an occasion to engage with Carolee Schneemann, Birgit
Hein, and Christine Noll Brinckmann, in considering the topic of this book.
My presentation for that panel was the impetus that first motivated me to
think about several of the issues this book raises. The enthusiasm for the
subject these three women filmmakers displayed became, over time, as
great a motivator, as I have often thought back to the event and the delight it
gave me. I owe much to all three. In the fall of 1989, the Art Gallery of
Ontario, and its film programmer at the time, Catherine Jonasson, contracted
with me to present several evenings of films on the body at that institution.
These evenings allowed me to understand better the scope of this project.
The Art Gallery of Ontario also sponsored a short catalogue for the exhibi-
tion; because I formulated several of the ideas stated in this book in writing
the catalogue, I am much indebted to that institution. Another occasion that
same fall provided more opportunity to work out further ideas on the sub-
ject, as J.M. Snyder, then chair of the Department of Film and Photography
of Ryerson Polytechnical University, invited me to give a lecture on images
of the body that I had made for my own films; this activity was supported
through the Kodak Chair at Ryerson, funded by Kodak Canada, and was pre-
sented in co-operation with the Art Gallery of Ontario. I began work on the
present volume with encouragement from Stan Brakhage; he and the
Gertrude Stein scholar Ulla Dydo provided me with encouragement at
important points in the project's development, when I became discouraged.
V
vi A Body of Vision
The staff of Wilfrid Laurier University Press have been consistently helpful.
Carroll Klein, managing editor of WLU Press, and freelance copy editor Bar-
bara Tessman did a splendid job of unravelling tangled sentences, of impos-
ing consistency on a manuscript, and of catching the mistakes of one who is
all too prone to error. Barbara Schon compiled the index. The director of the
Press, Sandra Woolfrey, has overseen the project, read several drafts of the
manuscript, and provided important counsel that salvaged the project.
Anonymous reviewers for the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of
Canada offered useful advice in the final stages. The Federation also pro-
vided a grant in aid of publication.
I owe a debt of inestimable magnitude to my wife, Kathryn Elder. Her con-
tributions to the actual production of the book, including obtaining the per-
missions, were enormous. But that remark tells hardly anything of what I
owe her. For thirty years we have gone to films and poetry readings
together, and our conversations afterwards have been, for all that time, the
occasions in which I have begun to formulate my ideas on what we had seen
and heard. As much as I owe her for accompanying me in my discoveries and
for encouraging me to keep on, that debt is a small fraction of what I owe to
Kathryn for her own unquenchable appetite to see, hear, and discuss new
work; and that debt, in its turn, is only a small fraction of what I owe to her
for brightening every day of the past thirty years, with a radiance that only
glows more brightly, and penetrates me more deeply, as time goes by. This
book is dedicated to her, with much love.
Acknowledgments
The author and publisher wish to thank the following for permission to use
copyright materials by other authors:
Artforum for material from Artforum, November 1980, "Carolee Schnee-
mann," by Ted Castle.
J.M. Dent, with New Directions Publishing Corporation, for the extract
from Dylan Thomas, "The Force that through the Green Fuse Drives the
Flower," from Dylan Thomas: The Poems, edited by Daniel Jones (1974),
copyright 1939 by New Directions Publishing Corporation.
Film Culture for material from James Broughton, The Golden Positions,
and from Jonas Mekas and P Adams Sitney, "James Broughton Interviewed
by Jonas Mekas and P Adams Sitney," Film Culture 61 (James Broughton
Special Issue 1975-1976).
Grove Atlantic Monthly Press for an extract from Antonin Artaud, The
Theatre and Its Double, translated by Mary Caroline Richards (Grove Atlantic
Monthly Press, 1968).
Scott MacDonald for material from his interview with Carolee Schnee-
mann in his book A Critical Cinema (University of California Press, 1988)
and for material from his interview with Andrew Noren in his book A Critical
Cinema 2 (University of California Press, 1992).
New Directions for the extract from Jorge Luis Borges "Paradise, XXXI,
108" from Jorge Luis Borges Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings,
edited by Donald Yates and James Irby (New Directions Publishing Corpora-
tion, 1964). Reprinted by permission of New Directions.
Andrew Noren for material from his 1978 program note for his appearance
at The Collective for Living Cinema.
Random House for extracts from Andrew Marvell "Bermudas" and "The
Garden" from Andrew Marvell: Complete Poetry, Introduction by George deF.
vn
viii A Body of Vision
Lord (Random House, 1968). Reprinted by permission of Random House,
Inc.
Eric Robinson for extracts from "A Sunday with Shepherds and Herdboys"
from Selected Poems and Prose of John Clare, edited by Eric Robinson and
Geoffrey Summerfield (Oxford University Press, 1967); for extracts from
"Don Juan" and from "Eliza now the summer tells" from John Clare, edited
by Eric Robinson and David Powell, Oxford Authors (Oxford University
Press, 1984). Copyright Eric Robinson, reproduced by permission of Curtis
Brown Groups Ltd., London, England.
Stranger Music for extracts from Leonard Cohen, "Master Song," "Joan of
Arc," "Death of a Lady's Man," and "When Even The" from Leonard Cohen,
Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs (McClelland and Stewart, 1993);
for extracts from "The Old Revolution" and "Teachers" from Leonard
Cohen, Songs of Leonard Cohen (Collier-Macmillan, 1969); for extracts from
"You Have the Lovers" from Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968
(McClelland and Stewart, 1968); for extracts from "Welcome to These
Lines" from Leonard Cohen, The Energy of Slaves (McClelland and Stewart,
1972); for extracts from "Psalm I" from Leonard Cohen, Book of Mercy
(McClelland and Stewart, 1984); for extracts from "Death of a Lady's Man,"
"My Wife and I," "I Have Taken You," "The Beetle," "Orion," "This Mar-
riage," "The Photograph," "I Should Not Say You," "Your Girl," "You Have
No Form," "I Like the Way You Opposed Me," "The Good Fight," "The
Rose," "Another Man's Woman," "St. Francis," "The Idols of the Lord,"
"The Language of Love," "The Visit," "Traditional Training and Service,"
and "This Wretch" from Leonard Cohen, Death of a Lady's Man (McClelland
and Stewart, 1978). Copyright by Leonard Cohen, reproduced with permis-
sion of Stranger Music.
University of California Press for the Louis Zukofsky poem "Julia's Wild"
from Louis Zukofsky, Bottom: On Shakespeare (University of California
Press, 1987); for the Christian Morgenstern poems "Der Lattenzaun," "The
Picket Fence," "Das Aesthetische Wiesel," and "The Aesthetic Weasel"
from Christian Morgenstern, Christian Morgenstern's Galgenlieder, trans-
lated by Max Knight, Gallows Songs (University of California, 1964).
The Village Voice for the extract from J. Hoberman, "Reel to Reel: Imagi-
nary Light," The Village Voice, 11 April 1995. Reprinted by permission of the
author and The Village Voice.
Every effort has been made to trace the ownership of all copyright mate-
rial reprinted in the text. The author and publisher regret any errors, and
will be pleased to make necessary corrections in subsequent editions.
Introduction
The history of the problematic in this book, like that of so many other works,
can be readily traced back to Plato. In his writings, particularly the Phaedo, a
conception of the body finds paradigmatic expression. In the Phaedo (64e),
Socrates asks Simmias whether the philosophers attach importance to the
body and to providing themselves with "smart clothes and shoes and other
bodily ornaments," or whether they despise such trappings. Do you not agree,
Socrates asks Simmias, that the philosopher is not concerned with the body,
but keeps his attention directed away from it and towards the soul, and that
philosophers distinguish themselves from other humans by freeing their souls
from association with the body to a greater extent than other humans do.
Socrates goes on to introduce a crucial development into the argument
(65b). He queries Simmias concerning whether or not the body is a hin-
drance to acquiring knowledge. Can the body become a partner to the soul in
the search for knowledge? "Is there any certainty in human sight and hear-
ing," he asks, "Or is it true, as the poets are always dinning into our ears,
that we neither hear nor see anything accurately?" Simmias allows that the
poets are correct and that, since hearing and sight are the two most highly
developed senses, all representations deriving from any of the senses must
be inaccurate. It is true, Simmias admits, that whenever the soul tries to
investigate anything with the help of the body, the body leads it astray. If not
when partnered with body, then when can the soul attain to truth, Socrates
asks. His own response defined the paradigm of knowledge: "Surely the soul
can best reflect when it is free of all distractions such as hearing or sight or
pain or pleasure of any kind—that is, when it ignores the body and becomes
as far as possible independent, avoiding all physical contacts and associations
as much as it can" (65c-d).!
The person who is most likely to attain the truest knowledge of reality,
Socrates suggests (66a), is the one who considers each object in the light of
1