~ Poet: Richard Brautigan ~

All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace by Richard Brautigan

Richard Brautigan‘s famous 1967 poem may be treated as holy writ by Silicon Valley dipshits who pray for the advent of the singularity, but that doesn’t stop it from being a fascinating cultural artifact in its own right. So I was pleased to see this fine student film by Edward Phillips Hill, which also includes something I’ve never seen before: process notes right in the end credits.

  • stop animation because it’s a physical/tactile medium
  • the other images that flash by are either screen captures of social media or images taken from my phone camera while looking at social media, in essence looking through the technology seeing what is being ignored
  • the music was chosen as it resembles a techno song yet played by acoustic instruments, thus furthering the duality of modern life & the constant push and pull between ‘technological’ life and ‘real’ life

Love Poem by Richard Brautigan

A mash-up of Richard Brautigan‘s “Love Poem,” recited in different voices, with excerpts from Samuel Beckett’s novel Molloy presented as text in English and Korean translation. Titled Love Poem, this was shown at three festivals last year: the 10th Seoul International New Media Festival, the 7th Experimental Film and Video Festival in Seoul, and the ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival in Berlin.