In Antonin Artaud: Man of Vision, author Bettina L. Knapp wrote of the theorist’s mental illness: “Artaud was unable to adapt to life; he could not relate to others; he was not even certain of his own identity.” Knapp commented that “Artaud was in essence constructing an entire metaphysical system around his sickness, or, if you will, entering the realm of the mystic via his own disease. The focal point of his universe was himself and everything radiated from him outward.” Referring to Artaud’s The Umbilicus of Limbo, Knapp indicated Artaud “intended to ‘derange man,’ to take people on a journey ‘where they would never have consented to go.’” She further explained, “Since Artaud’s ideas concerning the dramatic arts were born from his sickness, he looked upon the theater as a curative agent; a means whereby the individual could come to the theater to be dissected, split and cut open first, and then healed.” Knapp also offered an explanation of Artaud’s popularity long after his death: “In his time, he was a man alienated from his society, divided within himself, a victim of inner and outer forces beyond his control… . The tidal force of his imagination and the urgency of his therapeutic quest were disregarded and cast aside as the ravings of a madman… . Modern man can respond to Artaud now because they share so many psychological similarities and affinities.” Similar words were issued in a Horizon essay by Sanche de Gramont, who wrote of Artaud: “If he was mad, he welcomed his madness… . To him the rational world was deficient; he welcomed the hallucinations that abolished reason and gave meaning to his alienation. He purposely placed himself outside the limits in which sanity and madness can be opposed, and gave himself up to a private world of magic and irrational visions.” http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/antonin-artaud

francoisrolandtruffaut: Marie Dubois imitates a locomotive.

descroissants: animinimalism: Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Simone de Beauvoir gather to distribute copies of the Maoist newspaper La Cause du Peuple on the street after it is banned by the government (Paris, 1970). Photographer: Bruno Barbey (via)

frenchtwist: via tapwaterjackson: Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, Reclamation, 2003. Via 3quarksdaily

superseventies: Brian Eno

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nosex: THE MIRROR (ANDREI TARKOVSKY, 1975)

"What better occupation, really, than to spend the evening at the fireside with a book, with the wind beating on the windows and the lamp burning bright. Haven’t you ever happened to come across in a book some vague notion that you’ve had, some obscure idea that returns from afar and that seems to express completely your most subtle feelings?"
— Gustave Flaubert (via whiskey river)

(Source: proustitute)

sonicandies: Marcello Mastroianni talks about writing. La Notte, 1961, Michelangelo Antonioni.