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Episode 29 - Big Knees Is Real (Patreon)

Published:
2024-05-28 23:54:41
Imported:
2026-06
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Downloads

  • Episode 29.mp3

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Content

0:00 Cannes Film Festival 2024/The campaign for the winners
12:50 The best ideas should be localised/The parameters of success being 'mainstream'
30:09 The Damien Hirst fraud/What makes something 'original'/Concept being enough in art/Marcel Duchamp/Tracey Emin
1:07:00 The Turner prize winners/Is beauty redemptive?
1:17:41 How does one externalise a base desire? (BIG KNEES)/Comparing Chris Chan, Anatoly Slivko and the Mona Lisa/The schizophrenia of the modern lens


This conversation was a personal favourite conversation of mine. Enjoy.
-Lewis

Files

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Comments

Esteban Rodriguez

With Anatomy of a Fall winning last year, I already had my concerns with Neon being the distributors for the last 5 Palme D’Ors. (Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, Anora) and now it’s just frustrating. It was predictable, but I was really hoping that any Neon distributed film was not gonna be a winner but of course it was futile. In general, even with all these flaws it has, I still have a moderate level of appreciation for a festival like Cannes even if it’s because of the films they always try and showcase. There has usually been an over the top aspect to Cannes and unfortunately I think this decade is where Cannes is slowly being taken over by celebrity over a love for cinema. It’s still somewhat there but it’s becoming less and less with each year which is sad. You have film media companies like Letterboxd and MUBI which have just become synonymous with promoting Cannes every year. Making it even more of just a vapid celebratory exercise. I swear to God I see more and more “small independent” films that have "A MUBI release" on it that I think there are probably more films with that label on their service than films that are not “released” by them. I think about how Tarkovsky and Bresson in 1983 both won in directing for fantastic films (Nostalghia and L’argent) and it was presented by Orson Welles. That to me was a monumental moment in cinema that was in Cannes and I don’t think we’ll ever have something like that again. Same thing with films like The Tree of Life. A genuine masterpiece of the 2010s that got massive boos when it premiered in Cannes yet still won the Palme because there’s really no denying of its high quality. (Also I’m a little biased cause my default answer for my favorite film) Alejandro Jodorowsky is that filmmaker for me that made me look at cinema in a completely different way not just in craft but in philosophy. Especially in how he rarely if ever tries to be in the system and always tries new things. Of course that’s probably was enhanced after his horrible time with Dune because of how much he stuck with his vision. To me, The Holy Mountain is one of the most important and ambitious films ever made because of what it talks about and yet with all of its gorgeous unique spectacle in its production design, all of it was done with less than a million US dollars and filmed in Mexico cause it’s cheaper. It manages to genuinely be a profound philosophical experience that also is the funniest film I’ve ever seen and one I can easily quote many lines from memory. I adore that film. I love how today Jodorowsky is still able to be his own artist where he clearly only made whatever he wanted. His most recent narrative feature, Endless Poetry, was funded by a kickstarter. And it was a great film and probably the only good example of a kickstarter result that I can think of. To this day, I constantly am inspired by his craft mixed in his humor and not taking things too seriously yet still being able to speak and convey profound symbols at the same time. He and Mahler’s music I think share that in truly trying to see the expansive all encompassing world with all its depth and eclectic elements. That’s what I can say is probably my artistic philosophy now. Ah Damien Hurst. I definitely don’t wish failure for most artists but man hearing his possible downfall absolutely puts a giant grin on my face. I just wish that people like him stop poisoning the history of art. Unfortunately, like a Hydra, Hurst’s "style" is only going to be replicated by another dozens of other wannabes. What I love about being on this Patreon is all of you and your open honesty in what inspires them and what they love and that has made me more open and speaking from the heart. So I wanted to be open in sharing right now several of my central influences in what I create. (Particularly with 'Journey in Classic Era' since I have been thinking about creating a list on that.) -The classical music of Mozart, Bach, Wagner and Mahler are those select composers I admire more than the rest and I love to imagine my own specific visuals of what I gain from listening to their music. -The main reference for the narrative and structure has been the Ring Cycle by Wagner. Especially with the idea of an ensemble piece of many central characters and with it having a four opera saga. -Van Gogh, Pierre Renoir, and especially Monet’s impressionist works is how I draw many of my frames. Season 2, Episode 4 was when I fully embraced that. -Fantasia’s audio visual synchronization in general has been a reference for a very long time. -Don Hurtzfeldt’s animations have made me want to try out an almost minimalist attempt with hand drawn animation in the first place especially with World of Tomorrow. -The Passion of Joan of Arc by Dreyer was very influential in my compositions and emphasis on close ups in my series in the beginning. Now I recently varied on how I present character interaction. -The Color of Pomegranates more than any other film has been the one I referenced the most in Journey in Classic Era sometimes explicitly with its visuals. To me, it was a film I used to describe the ancient past of the world and also a film that I think represents the series’ explorations of the poetic and the spiritual that are ever present. -Evangelion and Attack on Titan have been the most influential anime works in the aesthetics and some story and character ideas like of Asuka being an inspiration for Christine. -Hayao Miyazaki’s films have been incredibly influential to me in terms of character writing. I love how open and understanding he is about humanity and I myself always try to write characters whether a protagonist or antagonist with a sense of understanding of why they are who they are and not making them cartoonishly malicious or whimsical most of the time. Also his own reference with the Shinto religion in Japan has also been a reference for much of the world building in my series. -I know specifically the character of Tritus and the Figaros have been influenced by many things: Roman and Spartan soldiers, the politicide caused by the Indonesian death squadrons that I got interested in because of The Act of Killing, Tritus in particular is this mixture of Alex DeLarge, Titus Andronicus, and just my perception of Caravaggio’s personality haha. This episode was very enjoyable and interesting to listen to. Thanks very much for all you do, Lewis and Luiza.

J George

The whole Cannes thing reminds me of a thing Tarkovsky said about producers, that they're like drug dealers, and Cannes has more to do with the producer's interests than any artistic interest. It's Ibiza or Miami for people who see themselves as "artsy" but that are greddy dilletanttes at best. And now that you mentioned Weinstein, I'm reminded of the whole Diddy thing and the Drake thing: this lavish lifestyle shit in places like Cannes is often used as a lure for sex trafficking. Tarkovsky may just be right beyond the metaphorical sense of the word.

J George

I feel like there's gonna be a shift in the artistic culture, particularly for music and film, in the next 5-10 years because, if the streaming services don't find a way to make themselves profiable, they'll go bankrupt and, to do that, they'll have to keep cutting corners that leave the creators high and dry - spotify is already a good example of that, with indie musicians like me leaving it in droves. With opportunities fro "hitting the big time" becoming non-existent, especially with AI, the idea of a human artist doing anything for the mass market will be a thing of the past. And maybe, just maybe, that'll be a blessing in disguise for us here ;)

J George

Now there's one thing I really want to do: put in paper everything as I see as foundational value for the way I create music, then put that on my wall for me to see when I wake up. I'll try that later.

Esteban Rodriguez
>>139351110

I truly hope so. I do have this pessimism that many people only look at the arts for its "wow factor" and not for many genuine emotional reason or instinct of curiosity. But then again, there are small fractions who love to be challenged by the unorthodox or simply are sick and tired of the mainstream. I have so many ideas for stories that I want to tell. Maybe it will be a film, a short, a long running series, maybe even just a novel but I will always stick to what I feel is right especially as I get older.

J George

"We happened to have experienced the work of Tarkovsky, and we also have happened to have experienced the work of Big Knees." Funniest out-of-context thing I've ever heard.

J George

I have an entire conceptual album written and demo'd in my hard drive about a young 20-something rising rockstar that ruins his life (but is also a victim of circimstances) that, at the end, finds rendemption (I'd rather not spoil it to much because I'd like to professionally record and release it one day). Even though it's far from my personal experience, it is a very sincere piece of art to me not just because I'm happy with the sound I've achieved and whatnot, but it because encompasses some of my biggest values in art: that it can show ugly, abject things, but still reach for something I believe transcends us all, in other words, what I see as eternal truths. Maybe I'll upload my privately, even though they could do with some better mixing and vocals...