Shusterman meets Strzeminski

Ed Trotta and Petra Lucas in 

"Kobro or the Madness of Love" by Alicja Kuczynska.  

American Center for Music Theater,  Hollywood, CA, 2001

In a strange twist of things Wladyslaw Strzeminski as played by Ed Trotta returns in a small but significant moment in the upcoming "Exposure and Self-Knowledge" (a documentary about Richard Shusterman)

The place of an image

Richard Shusterman quotes/translates in "The Adventures of the Man in Gold" Laozi describing the Tao:

“As a thing the way is shadowy and indistinct. Indistinct and shadowy, yet within it is an image. Shadowy and indistinct, yet within it is a substance. Dim and dark, yet within it is an essence. This essence is quite genuine” (D 21). (道之為物惟恍惟 惚。惚兮恍兮其中有象。恍兮 惚兮其中有物。窈兮冥兮其中 有精。其精甚真。)

At first I though it was a cascade: the unspoken contains an image, that image contains a substance, that substance holds an essence. And the essence is genuine. So we go deeper and deeper till we reach that which is.

However grammatically it's a series of approximations that try to explain that which is shadowy and indistinct. Or is it? I need a solid English consultation here.

As an image maker I would prefer the former way of reading the quote. In it the image is a necessary step into that which is. In the latter it's just one of many possible ways to grasp that which can't be grasped.

Exposure

This is a soon upcoming documentary about Richard Shusterman, or rather about one aspect of his vast philosophical interests.   We've been working on it for years.  Previously it was called "The Body Philosopher".  Stay tuned...

Encounters in Berlin

 from the upcoming "The Body Philosopher" - 

a documentary about Richard Shusterman.

meanwhile, something that was meant purely as a preparatory step for the documentary above keeps making rounds:

https://www.cineplex.de/event/16684/berlin-neukoelln/

the real documentary is coming:-) 

Directing philosophy

Pawel Kuczynski and Richard Shusterman 

on the set of "The Pragmatist."  

Photography by Piotr Rejmer

Below is the press release for an upcoming premiere screening of my new project.  The screening will take place in Krakow at the Contemporary Art Gallery Bunkier Sztuki on July 25th at 5 PM. 

Delos Films presents:

“Philosophical Encounters with Richard Shusterman”

This three-part video series paints an intellectual portrait of a noted philosopher and founder of the interdisciplinary field of somaesthetics, a project concerned with body consciousness, perception, and aesthetic stylization.  The video material is based on conversations recorded at and around Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Shusterman’s current academic home.  Additional scenes present his international lectures and workshops with an emphasis on three recent visits to Poland.  

This video series is intended as an educational tool but it is also a preparatory work for a more personal documentary - “The Pragmatist,” currently in the works.

The Krakow screening will consist of the first two parts in the series:  “The Role of a Philosopher” (27 min.) and “Making a Difference” (30 min.)

Dr. Shusterman will be present at the screening and available for a Q&A. 

The series and the upcoming documentary are directed by Pawel Kuczynski, a Polish-American filmmaker whose recent productions focus on philosophy and art.  He will also be at the screening. 

Richard Shusterman’s web site: http://www.fau.edu/humanitieschair
Pawel Kuczynski’s web site: www.directing.com