"A more perfect Logos" is what we are looking for.
Why is that two people can watch a film by Kubrick and come away having seen two radically different films?
The Logos is essentially an informative type of thought; Homer was the first rockstar of the Logos, as he orally communicated the story of Odysseus. The oral transmission is one step down, one degradation of the Logos. Think of it in terms of Beethoven's music: "you think this is good, you should hear what I hear." Beethoven heard the "pure" sound, and did his best to translate it with the instruments available to him.
In an effort to preserve the Logos of Homer, the story was written down into manuscripts, a second degree of degradation. In an effort to preserve the sound of Beethoven, he wrote the sheet music.
Logos>Homer>The Odyssey
Sound>Beethoven>Sheet Music
Depending on how much you agree or disagree with McLuhan, typographic print is a degradation of manuscript.
Modern film (sound and vision) degraded the Logos even further. Just like hearing Beethoven on CD is degraded from a live orchestra.
Logos>Homer>The Odyssey manuscript>The Book>The Film
We always say "the book is better than the film" because we are closer to the source, the Logos. This is why we have only one Wizard of Oz book, but ten different filmed versions of it.
Film is an extension of man; if clothes are an extension of skin, film is the extension of dream. When Kubrick says "If only you could see the film I have in my head" he is saying "If only you could see the dream I have in my head." Kubrick utilizes the best of what is available to bring the Logos through to us. This is why he delayed projects for years (AI) because he needed new technology to better bring the vision to us. After watching Kubricks initial representation of the dream, we attempt to reduce by association: turn the film into an audio-book, something closer to literature, something closer to the Logos so that we may better see Kubrick's dream.
To make this more explicit, Danny figures out how to escape the nightmare by retracing his steps.
Defending The Dream, W. Klaus
Disorient the senses. Meditate, intoxicate, abstain, or indulge. Explore the wider range of seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling. New and unusual thoughts rise to the surface. Discover new facets of creation, new facets of the creator.
Disorient the media. Cut-up, juxtapose, reverse, mash-up. Explore the wider application of sound, color, form, narrative. New and unusual thoughts rise to the surface. Discover new facets of the art, new facets of the artist.
The first time I disoriented the media was when someone suggested that I isolate the left stereo channel while listening to “Strawberry Fields Forever”. If you haven’t done this before, try it out. And play it LOUD. You’ll discover just how much of a bad ass Ringo was. It's a simple little trick, but worth it when you find buried treasures like this.
Lot Wizards
I discovered a new way to disorient the media thanks to those old-school? wizards the Flaming Lips. Zaireeka, released in 1997, included four separate CD's designed to all be played at the same time. After the novelly of the project wore off, I was inspired to experiment with my own record collection. I spent a few months playing more than one album at a time, sometimes three or four, to see if they merged into something more than just chaos. I mean, what else are you gonna do with your Sven Väth CD’s?
It quickly dawned on me that DJ’s do this all the time, with more defined edits and more complex equipment. But there was something slightly more organic, more archaic, this way. Sure, more often than not the product of these experiments was pretty bad, but every now and then a certain synergy would take place that was oddly listenable. Fine, blame it on the weed, but it was exciting! These experiments were intriguing enough for me to finally go ahead and watch The Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of the Moon.
Even though I entered into Dark Side of the Rainbow with incredible doubt (doubt is essential), the experience of watching Dark Side of the Rainbow blew me away. Really, it changed the way I looked at everything. There wasn't any specific moment that I really held onto, it was more the overall ebb and flow, as well as the opportunity to experience a film and album that I had seen and heard my whole life in a completely different way. With just one viewing, both the album and the film transformed for me, but I wasn't exactly sure how. No surprise, I soon began experimenting with combining other films and albums.
It Is Shining
For me, all great art, regardless of form, delivers an undeniable excitement, and a distinct feeling of awe. These different experiments helped me to recreate that initial excitement. As a bonus, I was discovering details and themes that had otherwise escaped me. All because of a few simple but unorthodox twists and turns from the norm. Too much time on my hands, maybe, but fuck the critics, this shit works.
Link
Over the last year, I have been experimenting with a new technique. Instead of isolating the images of certain films, I have taken to isolating the audio of films, and listening to them as if they were audio-books. This would have been incredibly difficult 25 years ago, but it is ridiculously easy today. Simply download a film to an iPhone, put headphones on and the phone in your pocket, and walk outside your front door. I'm sure this seems rather unexciting, and often times it can be. But like any "book," it all depends on the "author". I first got inspired to do this while walking through Lincoln Park Zoo. Having no music I wanted to listen to, I remembered that I had downloaded 2001: A Space Odyssey to my phone. Inspiration for me usually presents itself as a good joke, so, up for a laugh, I fired it up.
Go do this, it is incredible madness. Especially if you are high at the zoo.
A Clockwork Orange followed a few months later, which was a complete and total revelation. It was as if I had never seen the movie before. It just completely changed for me, and I haven’t re-watched the movie proper since. Not sure if I ever will.
And then it hit me.
Just like the "aha" of “To Serve Man,” the title of Kubrick's last film became an explicit instruction, a reversal of the Ludovico brainwashing technique.
So eyes wide shut. Yeah, that destroyed me.
The next film up for my listening pleasure was, obviously, Kubrick's swan song. Until I listened on headphones, I wouldn't have considered Eyes Wide Shut Kubrick’s masterpiece. But things change. Why do we consider just the visual architecture of Kubrick's work? His arrangement of sound is just as incredible, and when isolated, reveals deeper elements of his genius.
Wing Boss
At this point in my re-education of Stanley Kubrick, and of film in general, I started feeling that my excitement wasn't in the realm of "discovery". I wasn't revealing anything that wasn't there, and if I was simply late to the party, that was ok. I just felt lucky enough to have found the password.
I considered booting up The Shining next, but decided instead to go with Dr. Strangelove. I'm not sure why I avoided The Shining, maybe I was saving the best for last? Anyways, Strangelove was an utter disappointment. Meaning, it was...boring. And the same thing with Lolita. Nothing really grabbed me with these experiments.
And then I put off these experiments for months. I'll say this, I never felt like this was something to do indoors. Intuitively, it just seemed like something to do outside. So fall turned to winter, and the lab was closed.
After staying inside for most of the winter, on a lovely spring day, I decided I needed to get out side for a walk. To keep me company, I downloaded The Shining to the phone and stepped outside. It was time.
The opening music began playing and it was as haunting as it ever was, but larger. So large it felt like I might get devoured. And it seemed to last an eternity. Then I saw it. I mean, I saw it man, it was crystal clear. A green grassed playground, filled with children laughing and playing. And a dog. I mean, it was all just there. For the life of me, I had never seen a playground in that movie before, ever. I stood motionless in the middle of the sidewalk, intent on rewinding to restore my sanity, when the conversation between Danny and Wendy ruined everything."Anyway, there's hardly anybody to play with around here."
"Yeah I know."
When I watched The Shining traditionally, like normal folk, I never saw the playground, My ears might have picked up the sound, but I didn't see it, and it's impact on the conversation between Danny and Wendy was purely subconscious. It was only when I removed the images and isolated the sound that I discovered the reality of this playground, the absolute sadness of it, and it's impact on the story.
Was the inclusion of this audio picked at random or was it intentionally placed?
-What is a ghost? Stephen said
with tingling energy.
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