row, row, row your boat.. ."Gently down the stream"

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is (indeed) but a dream.

Su Friedrich, Su Friedrich, Su Friedrich, what an interesting film you have created. Appropriately titled, "Gently down the stream" Friedrich composes imagery uncannily similar to the subconscious mind. Randomness, eeriness, both chaotic and peaceful states, first and third person perspective - these are some elements when combined in confusion can define a dream experience.

I record my dreams on a daily bases in a hope to gain greater insight of myself and so far it has been a very rewarding devotion of time. I study my dreams. i break them down.. .search for specific meanings found through color, emotion, location and various objects don't necessary denote their surface value, but usually play of a pun or is symbolic of a much more meaningful idea.

Take Friedrich's dream for instance, emotionally i sense sadness, displacement and lucidity. This film is heavily dominated by several bodies of water and rightly so, since this image is indicative of the conscious mind. To see oneself surrounded by water can suggest any number of meanings, however observing from within the context of the dream, i believe it to imply a feeling of contentment. She may not know where exactly she is, how she got there, the reason for her presence, why she may feel or appear lost, but she isn't fighting it.

She is certain of uncertainty and lucid of her new found realization.

Another interesting point to mention was the composition of this piece. It felt organic, as if at some points almost breathing for a short duration. I thought this was illustrated through her use of dark and light blank stills and more so as the etched words seem to verbalized through passive and violent cycles of motion. This film wasn't so much a film about an inner struggle as it was a meditation.

Slowing breathing in .. . and out. .. in and. . . out, to bring oneself inner peace, understanding. To feel free, released from burden, weightless - as tranquil as in a body of water. But there in lies the paradox. Water is still and undisturbed, but to be in it, even as still as one can be, ripples will still be formed, expand and ultimately recede, in repetition. This is the nature of our lives.

in and out, back and forth, positive and negative - these are not opposing forces, they are complementary, creating harmony. i think she has realized this old age philosophy; that is my interpretation, my experience through hers.

until tomorrow dear readers,
enjoy this rendition of Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Claudia Anderson, Girl Scout Junior Troop 690, Goodyear, Arizona

Propel, Propel, Propel your craft
Placidly down the liquid solution
Ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically,
Existence is but an illusion.

see think share
david