Part of Fall 2004
What is the difference between art and life? I have no idea, but when life is removed from its luminous death (as is inevitable) the remainder, the residue, is art. The process, unfortunately, isn’t reversible. We cannot begin with art and get anything like life (life-like) out of it. Still, there is no reason not to attempt this impossible task, and here are four videos – Ghost of a Chance by Jean-Paul Kelly, Draft by Dani Leventhal, Blot Out the Sun by Harrell Fletcher, and Burnout by George Kuchar – that make the valiant attempt. Documentary merely aims to represent life, to capture it. These videos attempt to reconstitute life, to encompass, invaginate and cannibalize it: to render it unto its luminous death. Call them autobiographical documentaries if you like, or personal essays,
