This Saturday, experimental filmmaker Brent Green will present his animations with live musical accompaniment. In the last five years, Green has established himself as a thoroughly unique voice in the contemporary American film and art world, and his works have been screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Getty Museum, and the Andy Warhol Museum, as well as presented at established rock venues such as The Stone, the Knitting Factory, and the Empty Bottle.
Green’s films, resolutely DIY in production, are populated by spooky handcrafted figures, wooden dolls, drawings, and found objects; thematically, the films deal with dark subject matter: accidental disease, solitude, death, the underworld, and religion.
Green’s touch, while occasionally dark and gothic, is rarely heavy-handed, and his intensely personal films are frequently augmented by his own agitated narration and musical scores. Live, Green is joined on stage by any number of musicians who improvise alongside him. This Saturday, the lineup will include Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Mary Timony (Helium), Alan Scalpone (The Bitter Tears), and Rodney McLaughlin.
Born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, Green is a self-taught artist, and his eerie works have a singular ‘outsider art’ quality to them — nothing, it seems, informs his practice other than his own memories and experiences. To watch a Brent Green film is to enter into a wholly other universe of Green’s creation. “Everything I make looks exactly like where I live… It’s ingrained in me,” Green says. “I’ve lived all over the place, but I moved back out here because I have to be somewhere where I can afford to be a full-time artist. I refurbished a barn and set up one-quarter as a living space and three-quarters as a studio space, and I love it here. Everyone is supposed to hate where they grew up, but it’s beautiful, and quiet,” Green laughs.
Green first started making films in 2001, and soon stumbled onto success. “This was an accidental career,” Green says. “I didn’t have any money when I was 25 - I didn’t go to college, I didn’t qualify for many grants.”
Eventually, Green was awarded a prestigious Creative Capital grant, and traveled to Binghamton to show his work to curators from the Getty Museum, Walker Art Center, and other institutions. In the years since, Green’s works have achieved considerable commercial and public success — not to mention support from underground music communities — but it still hasn’t changed Green’s hermetic, anti-art world attitude. “I don’t think about other filmmakers. I don’t give a s–t about it,” Green said from his farm in Cressona, northern Penn. “I do this because I like it. I’m not in the least bit interested in what other people are doing. I don’t look at other people’s work, I find it extraordinarily boring.”
As an artist, Green is involved in the creative process every step of the way: he builds his own sets (usually right in his own house), writes storyboards, scripts, and music, and directs and edits every film on iMovie. “I don’t think that I would be able to do any of this if it weren’t for computers,” Green says. “I’m certainly not anti-technology. I love making things, and I don’t want to waste time in front of a computer. It’s so easy and accessible, and the reality of it is that it’s also really affordable.”
Often, detritus from the creative process (visible scotch tape marks, film scratches, dust) rests on the film like residue from Green’s mind. “There are so many layers to what Brent does, and showing the process of it is so interesting on a blank aesthetic level — it’s so rugged, raw and beautiful,” says Brendan Canty of Green’s output. “It’s how he sees things, it’s the aesthetic that he values, and he really throws himself into it. It goes beyond intent — he just understands subconsciously that it is what needs to be done. Brent is extremely intelligent and super focused and dedicated, and I really appreciate that. He’s always pushing the fold, pushing the boundaries.”
Most of Green’s films are heavily autobiographical. “The way that Brent can take his personal experiences and turn them into something so blatantly beautiful — it’s remarkable,” says Canty. Even when Green’s films are not obviously autobiographical, it becomes overtly metaphorical, such as a current project he is working on about the life of Thomas Edison. “Subconsciously, my own history is there,” Green says. “I’m not trying to tell the ‘truth’ about Thomas Edison. I know what he did, but I don’t care.”
As Green reveals, unfolds, and distorts his own personal history, a catharsis occurs both on screen and in the audience. His short synaptic stories of disjointed family life — “Carlin,” for example, discusses the slow death of his diabetic aunt — are unnerving and intense. “It’s uncomfortable in an honest way,” Green says. “I try to have a personal cathartic moment, publicly.”
After he finished his second film, “Francis,” Brent sent the final product to Chicago indie rock band Califone at the encouragement of an editing house in Lancaster, Penn. “When I finished it, I thought, ‘how do I get it out there?’ I knew nothing about the film world or film festivals, so I thought the only way was through touring or live shows,” explains Green.
“I just sent them my film, and immediately Tim [Rutili] got back to me and said that he loved it and wanted to work with me. They asked me to do a video to one of their songs, and I picked ‘Spiders.’ I mean, I went to Chicago to record with my favorite band, which was so crazy. We hit it off, so when we finished we did a show together. I had never even seen them live before, so the first time that I ever saw them, I also played with them,” Green laughs.
After an initial meeting in Baltimore, Green’s arsenal of musicians soon came to include Fugazi drummer and producer Brendan Canty, who asked him to collaborate on his rock documentary DVD series, Burn to Shine. “[Fugazi] is influential to me in terms of what they stand for and how they work, both in a business sense and politically — and how strong they stand for it… It’s pretty crazy that I get to call Brendan Canty for business advice,” Green laughs.
When Green goes on tour with his film, he typically brings a host of disparate musicians that come together for his performances. At times, Green’s approach resembles more a touring rock band rather than an up-and-coming filmmaker.
The music is largely improvisational, guided by Green’s narration, visual triggers and general themes and musical concepts. “With the exception of a few [movies], it’s not set up at all,” Green says. “It’s totally improvisational, which is really exciting.” The other musicians discuss ideas with Green, and then follow his lead. “I’m listening to the rhythm of his dialogue. It’s like trying to back up a screaming beat poet — which is fine with me,” Canty laughs.
It’s clear that music plays a unique and prominent role in Green’s films. “Brent thrives on the live performance, and he thrives on musical collaboration and spontaneity,” says Brendan Canty. “He always tries to keep things fresh by bringing in people that don’t typically play with each other. I love his aesthetic sense. When he does performances, I think that ultimately is how they’re supposed to be presented, with a projector and a live band and Brent’s words. It’s him non-stop narrating for an hour, and it’s very dense. It’s the whole message — Brent exposing himself and standing by his work. I really appreciate that. It’s like walking on a wire.”
In a live setting, the music and movies form a crucial dynamic. “Every [element] is equally important, so the music is as equally integral as the writing. It all needs to lock in together,” explains Green. “And with live shows, it’s a way of not having people just sit there and watch a movie. I think that people need more than that — kind of like a Flaming Lips concert, whether it’s a giant hand, or that huge ball. We’re overloaded with stimulus all the time, and that’s not a complaint. I think of [my shows] as a barrage of stimulus, in terms of frenetic sound and large visuals. The live performance feels more honest, like a sink-or-swim situation. If it’s not fun, people won’t clap, right?”
In the end, Green makes films for himself, and his success on a public level is secondary to the own satisfaction he derives from his work. “For me, this is all an accident. It could end tomorrow, and I would be like, ‘Well, that was a fun couple of years,’” says Green. “I really don’t care.”
Cornell Cinema will present Brent Green and his animations with live music from Brendan Canty, Mary Timony, Alan Scalpone, and Rodney McLaughlin this Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:15pm at the Willard Straight Theatre. Brent Green will also discuss his animations at the Johnson Museum on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 5:15pm.