Like a moth to a flame

From STAN BRAKHAGE, the seminal avant garde short film MOTHLIGHT. Made in 1963. Uploaded to YouTube in 2007.

The Silence Before Bach

Spanish filmmaker PERE PORTABELLA has been making avant garde features since the '60s. His most recent film, THE SILENCE BEFORE BACH plays this week at the MUSEUM OF MODERN ART in New York.

Like that other experimental filmmaker MATTHEW BARNEY, PORTABELLA does not allow his work to be transferred to video, or distributed domestically. Thankfully a preview has surfaced online, but the run at MoMA is one of the rare chances to catch his highly regarded work.

I'm Too Sad To Tell You

The artist BAS JAN ADER spent the early seventies in L.A. pushing his distinctive and dedicated work of photography, filmmaking, and performance. Although best known for his "FALLING" series of films, in which he is filmed falling from various heights, his 1971 film I'M TOO SAD TO TELL YOU provocatively establishes his brand of physical, emotional, and self-demanding art.

In 1975 he set out on what would be his final art project, called IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS, ADER set out in a tiny sailboat into the Atlantic. He was never seen again, and his boat was later found capsized off the coast of Ireland.

A new documentary about his life and work HERE IS ALWAYS SOMEWHERE ELSE is now in release.