Field Report: Art Incounters

Last Sunday I was fortunate enough to meet both Professor Iverson White and filmmaker Charles Burnett in spite of all the cats and dogs. The work they presented was Self-Determination and Killer of Sheep respectively. The most interesting aspect I found that these two films shared was how they each found distinct but similar methods of allowing the viewer space and time to navigate alternative meanings and interpretations.

White spoke briefly of his inspiration for the short, stating that a story from a troubled woman on his block prompt him to write a poem on her situation. The fascinating tidbit of his anecdote was not so much of how he decided to present her story but of how he decided to end it. He does not offer a direct answer, but rather a suggestion of what the first step might look like. That step can be as misdirected as throwing a few bottles of liquor away, which would only dispose the product of the root problem (which in the case of Self-Determination, is the mistreatment, neglect, and betrayal of a domestic relationship) or it can acknowledge and commit to confrontation.

The structure and length of the piece lends itself to be shaped by our imaginations. We are only granted passing glimpses of who these two people were before they met each other, but even then with the conclusion of the film it seems they were talking of themselves all along, locked in a cycle of mouse and cat: disappointment and infidelity. This film isn’t so much about a situation as it is about the progression of participates involved. The tricky thing here is that we think we see the path these characters undertake, but all the while it is us who pave the way.

Like Killer of Sheep, the strength of the film depends on our imaginations and how open we allow ourselves to be. We don’t really know what lies at the heart of Stan’s insomnia. We don’t know why his son so desperately needs money. We don’t know why the man lying next to the car motor is hurt, nor do we know the significance of Stan’s daughter’s canine mask. At the end of the day we don’t much of the events prior and post the beginning and ending of Killer of Sheep, but that isn’t to say we can’t understand them.

These two films encourage the viewer to observe the unobservable. In turn, by understanding something that hasn’t been dictated, you engage with the world presented to you more dynamically. By allowing such open ended films to exist, we’re able to revisit old experiences finding that they too have changed with the passage of time.