Sculpting in Time: Reflections on the Cinema

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What moved me was the theme of the harmony which is born only of sacrifice, the twofold experience of love. It's not a question of mutual love: what nobody seems to understand is that love can only be one-sided, that no other love exists, that in any other form it is not love. If it involves less than total giving, it is not love. It is impotent; for the moment, it is nothing.” We all know the tradicional genre of ancient Japanese poetry, the haikku. [Sergei] Eisensteinquoted some examples: Nuclear war threatens. Man passes a pact with God. If his family is saved in the morning, he gives up speaking. After a night agitated his family is saved. He decides to pass for insane so respecting the pact. The last pitcures sees his son sprinkling the tree planted by his father. He pronounces a sentence of St-John "the verb made in chair". And we heard "Erbame dich mein Gott" from Bach Mathaus's Passion. Cada vez que usted vea en el cine -aunque cada vez es más escaso- un plano fijo larguísimo, en el que parece que no pasara nada, es Tarkovski. Puede ser un Tarkovski deformado, pero es él. Él es el hombre que esculpió en el tiempo. Es la mejor definición de su cine dada por él mismo, y que da título a este libro. Una gran influencia para muchos cineastas que quisieron seguir/copiar su estilo. Aún recuerdo siendo una estudiante universitaria, la mística alrededor de Tarkovski. Seguía siendo un outsider ya a finales de los noventa y entrado en los dosmiles. Ver sus películas era una especie de ritual para pocos, pero, a la vez, para algunos no era más que un snobismo trasnochado. Los Bergmans, Antonionis, Buñeles y Bressones estaban en ese punto de quiebre que marcaba el nuevo milenio, y que empezaba a darle una fuerza irreductible a la entrada de las nuevas tecnologías, llámese la revolución de lo digital. Entonces, todo aquello con un ritmo análogo y con intención de "el arte por el arte"parecía entrar al terreno de lo caduco, para algunos enfrascados en la novedad y el ritmo cada vez más acelerado de los tiempos.

Sculpting in Time collects the theoretical writings of Russian filmmaker Andrey Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky expresses his views on the nature of art and cinema, and provides some insight as to his films. Hemos llegado a una situación en la que el público prefiere cualquier basura comercial a Fresas salvajes de Bergman o a El eclipse de Antonioni”Art is a meta-language, with the help of which people try to communicate with one another; to impart information about themselves and assimilate the experience of others. Again, this has not to do with practical advantage but with realising the idea of love, the meaning of which is in sacrifice: the very antithesis of pragmatism. I simply cannot believe that an artist can ever work only for the sake of 'self-expression.' Self-expression if meaningless unless it meets with a response. For the sake of creating a spiritual bond with others it can only be an agonising process, one that involves no practical gain: ultimately it is an act of sacrifice. But surely it cannot be worth the effort merely for the sake of hearing one's own echo?” All unabashedly poetic, Tarkovsky’s films encompassed a range of themes, among them, religion and spirituality, science fiction, the artistic enterprise, politics and war, human memory and desire. They were pure pieces of storytelling, untainted by concerns regarding immediate commercial viability. In them, a generous use of natural elements – wind, water, fire – and the practice of long, slow takes came together to create imagery that continues to enthrall and enchant film buffs all over the world. He evolved from planning the details of the scene to approaching it with a general idea due to reality being richer than imagination and allowing serendipity. He finds meticulous plans abstract and restricting on the imagination so one should merely approach the scene with an open mind.

Y respecto a ello, a lo material, al materialismo (visto desde la filosofía, y desde la cultura de masas y el consumismo), Tarkovski, que salió de la URSS en 1983, se sitúa en un espacio cuasi paria al criticar a ambos sistemas, aunque no los nombre. No nombra al Capitalismo y al Comunismo, pero sí habla de Occidente y su materialismo (lo cierto es que también critica a ese cine comprometido y político de la URSS con el que no quería tener nada que ver), y cree que la materia amenaza con devorar el espíritu del hombre. También equipara el avance de la tecnología con esa pérdida de espíritu (de ahí que esté relacionado con la introducción de este texto, en el que hablo de la entrada de la tecnología en los dosmiles, cosa que de alguna manera Tarkovski predijo, pese a que murió en los aún analógicos ochentas). Para Tarkovski el cine comercial no tiene valor alguno más que como fuente de generación de dinero y según su idea, el artista no está ahí por enriquecerse. Su visión del arte es totalizadora y metafísica (en el sentido no-místico, sino de trascendencia de lo humano): el arte es lo que salva al hombre de la pérdida de su espíritu. "Y por eso, quizá realmente consista el sentido de la existencia humana en la creación de obras de arte, en el acto artístico, ya que este no posee una meta y es desinteresado". Curiously, while the images of the film were being conceived, and indeed all the time the first version of the scenario was being written, regardless of the current circumstances of my life, the characters began to stand out more and more clearly, the action grew steadily more specific and structured. It was almost an independent process that entered my life of itself. Furthermore, while I was still making Nostalgia I could not escape the feeling that the film was influencing my life. In the Nostalgia scenario, Gorchakov had only come to Italy for a short time, but he fell ill and died. In other words, he failed to return to Russia not of his own volition, but by a dictate of fate. Nor did I imagine that after finishing Nostalgia I would remain in Italy; like Gorchakov, I am subject to a Higher Will. Another sad fact came to underline these thoughts: the death of Anatoliy Solonitsyn, who had played the lead in all my previous films and who, I assumed, would have the parts of Gorchakov in Nostalgia and of Alexander in The Sacrifice. He died of the illness of which Alexander was cured, and which a year later was to afflict me.What moved me was the theme of the harmony which is born only of sacrifice, the twofold dependence of love. It’s not a question of mutual love: what nobody seems to understand is that love can only be one-sided, that no other love exists, that in any other form it is not love. If it involves less than total giving, it is not love. It is impotent; for the moment, it is nothing. He believes editing and assembly disturb the passage of time and gives it something new, thus distorting time can give it a rhythmical expression (Sculpting in time). Kollar's numerous recording projects, both as a solo artist and as a collaborator, are milestones of contemporary European experimental music sphere and each of those discloses another facet of his complex and constantly developing musical identity and his artistic personality. Robinson, Harlow (19 July 1987). "Sculpting in Time: REFLECTIONS ON THE CINEMA by Andrey Tarkovsky". Los Angeles Times.

David Kollar and his solo album “Sculpting in Time“ (Hevhetia 2019) – extraordinary guitar player composing/sculpturing extraordinary music with exceptional collaborators: Erik Truffaz and Arve Henriksen (both trumpet), Christian Fennesz (guitar & electronics), Pat Mastelotto (drummer of King Crimson, this time even reading Pasternak´s poem…). This piece of musical art is inspired primarily by the poetics of legendary film director Andrey Tarkovsky in many explicit and implicit levels: nevertheless Kollar´s inclination to his movies (especially Stalker and Mirror) is not either accidental, neither conjectural, but significative. It is connected with inner energy of nostalgia, desire and constant searching for deeper sense of our unpredictable lives. His introspective musical compositions are an expression of questioning our the most hidden, burning existential tensions. Sometimes they sounds conciliatorily, sometimes very disquietly, gradually they will bring you over deeply inside, where you can find maybe something forgotten, but important ultimately evoking unusual catharsis.."

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Slovak experimental guitarist / composer David Kollar emerges as one of the most intriguing figures on the European Avant-Garde / Jazz scene in the last decade. His utterly unique approach both to the guitar as an instrument and the contemporary improvising / compositional idioms are fascinating and completely innovative. Late this evening I looked at the sky and saw the stars. I felt as if it was the first time I had ever looked at them. Kollar treats his music with a deep degree of seriousness and personal involvement, as if each and every one of his projects And most important, let them believe in themselves, let them be helpless like children,because weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing... He believes the actor shouldn't have any unconscious knowledge of how a scene will unfold but act naturally as if it were real by being given only the necessary information, and allows the actor to have autonomy without restricting their freedom of expression. He thinks a good actor isn't merely understandable but is truthful.