Responding to “The Very Eye of Night”

Hello everyone,

On a personal level, I, long mired in the monotonous nature of my academic discipline of History, have never truly grasped the feel of cinematic art, or ever gained a full appreciation for its movements and paradigms. To me art was another historical fact, an expression of the timeline meant only to prove a historical pattern and nothing more. So, I must honestly profess that this class has truly opened a whole new interesting world for me to explore. Maya Deren’s work was, at first pass, unimpressive to a mind unfamiliar with experimental cinematography. I found its lack of a structured narrative unappealing. Coming from History structure and narrative was all I knew, but somehow Deren’s work managed to intrigue me the more I watched it. I found myself enthralled by the dancers overlaid on the moving star field, and their ghostlike forms and repetitive dances coupled with rhythmic procession gave the work a very primordial feel. It reminded me of primitive cultural beliefs of spirits amongst the heavens. Mind you, when I say “primitive”, I am not trying to be little the work, but rather I mean to say that it speaks to our natural human tendency to be fascinated by the mysterious and almost spiritual nature of the night. The work became a theme or motif in it of itself; without the need of structured narrative or the like. While I could also comment about the technical aspects of the work such the dancers being shown in photographic negative, the overlaid images, and likewise, it was more the impact of the film that interested me as a projection designer. Patricia Moran noted that it was important that “Space/time, projection and experiential: sentient and feeling, visible and visionary are part of the experience.”, and I believe Deren’s work is a great example of these aspects of the theory behind the “VJ” and “VJing”. I am truly thankful for being in this class because of what I am being exposed to, and though I may be elementary in my observations of artistic work, I can certainly appreciate the impact.

-Nathan D.