A Les Blank Retrospective
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Event Website
https://source2022.sched.com/
Start Date
18-5-2022
End Date
18-5-2022
Keywords
Coping, Creativity, Diversity, Ethnography
Abstract
This panel presents perspectives on the theme of coping, specifically amid the challenges that intensified with the increased isolation during the COVID pandemic. Since the early months of 2020, large parts of the United States have come to brief and long-term pauses that have resulted in deep introspection and have led to abandoned paths and impulse decisions. With a reflexive approach, these vignettes capture elements of the internal and external barriers we all face and the process by which we try to overcome them. The creation of a painting while processing racial trauma; using self-tattooing to handle neurodivergence; a raw reflection on growth in motherhood; the pitfalls of isolation and how one might self-medicate; a retrospective on the life of Les Blank and his love of a life less ordinary; a search for collaboration after an impulse move to Brooklyn. The ethnographic collection pulls from disparate voices to offer a view of the human condition in myriad form. Each visual presentation is roughly 5-10 minutes and is a selection from Visual Anthropology, winter 2022. A Les Blank Retrospective. Les Blank’s films have in common a romantic outlook, celebrating expressions of a joy of living. Always For Pleasure provides a recipe to follow for the enjoyment of red beans and rice.
Recommended Citation
Aal, Caleb, "A Les Blank Retrospective" (2022). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 2.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2022/COTS/2
Department/Program
Anthropology & Museum Studies
Additional Mentoring Department
Anthropology & Museum Studies
A Les Blank Retrospective
This panel presents perspectives on the theme of coping, specifically amid the challenges that intensified with the increased isolation during the COVID pandemic. Since the early months of 2020, large parts of the United States have come to brief and long-term pauses that have resulted in deep introspection and have led to abandoned paths and impulse decisions. With a reflexive approach, these vignettes capture elements of the internal and external barriers we all face and the process by which we try to overcome them. The creation of a painting while processing racial trauma; using self-tattooing to handle neurodivergence; a raw reflection on growth in motherhood; the pitfalls of isolation and how one might self-medicate; a retrospective on the life of Les Blank and his love of a life less ordinary; a search for collaboration after an impulse move to Brooklyn. The ethnographic collection pulls from disparate voices to offer a view of the human condition in myriad form. Each visual presentation is roughly 5-10 minutes and is a selection from Visual Anthropology, winter 2022. A Les Blank Retrospective. Les Blank’s films have in common a romantic outlook, celebrating expressions of a joy of living. Always For Pleasure provides a recipe to follow for the enjoyment of red beans and rice.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2022/COTS/2
Faculty Mentor(s)
Lene Pedersen