Nathaniel Dorsky: The Arboretum Aphorisms
Collected & Sequenced by Lisa McCarty
Long a figure of interest to many contemporary American poets, Nathaniel Dorsky has been making and exhibiting avant-garde films since 1964. For the first time, a selection of his film stills are collected in this volume along with excerpts from a series of artist talks delivered by Dorsky at the premiere of his seminal film series The Arboretum Cycle at Duke University in 2018.
The Arboretum Aphorisms is neither an overview, nor a theory, but rather a series of precepts on which to meditate. While Devotional Cinema considers the intersection of religion and cinema writ large, The Arboretum Aphorisms delves into the weeds of making and mindfulness in daily life. Simultaneously a lyric instructive for filmmakers and a general incitement to cultivate a sympathetic interior life, The Arboretum Aphorisms collects both poetic and practical advice from Dorsky as short, but luscious, aphorisms.
150 pages | 48 b/w and color images
Paperback | 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Aphorisms & Film Stills by Nathaniel Dorsky
Transcribed, Edited, & Designed by Lisa McCarty
First Edition: 100 copies