The Art Neuro Weblog

She Lives in Mojave in a Winnabago
So goes a line from one of Frank Zappa's songs. Well, they are designating the first 'non-Federal' spaceport right near where frank Zappa grew up. Talk about copping some Cosmic Debris. The Space Port will allow vertical launches to take place.

Now this, is the kind of development the Australian Government could be making. Should be making. Would be making if it had a space policy beyond which broadcaster owns which bandwidth of a communication satellite. And before Mr. Conservative Weasel remarks about the shortfalls of an ALP policy, we're blaming *everybody* in Australian federal politics for a total lack of Space Policy.

It's Already coming up to June!?
There's also going to be a spacewalk out of the ISS in June.
We wish them luck.

Art + Politics = Power
Just wanted to comment a little about Michael Moore winning the Cannes Jury Prize with his film 'Fahrenheit 9/11'. Jury selector Quentin Tarrantino says Moore didn't win it for the politics but for the artistry in the work. Well, I beg to differ there Quentin. It's a pretty damned political statement when you take the position that a film is a well-made film, but it's truth-claims are redundant to the decision. Because that way lies Leni Riefenstahl and 'Triumph of the Will'.

Now, as a film-maker, I'm okay with that. In fact, I am okay with any of Leni's comments to excuse her from her involvement with the Nazis. I think only other film-makers will appreciate this, but in the business of making films, the only thing that matters is the film. Moral concerns, political concerns, these take a back seat to the task at hand.

So, is this a good thing? Moralists will always say no, because what value is there in a film when it helps Nazis? The film-maker makes a different bargain with the devil. It's always the film. A hundred 'Triumphs of the Will' do not kill people; people with guns do. But I wanted to say, the Cannes Jurors are making politics aplenty by giving this film a prize, even though they are ostensibly giving it the jury prize for its artistic merits.

In fact the notion of a 'documentary' film is pretty dodgy anyway. Moore's claims in the film could be all wrong; as some of his claims in 'Bowling for Columbine' were indeed incorrect. But can you really say, "the film maker lied to me?" I mean, aren't fiction movies always doing that? If 'Triumph of the Will' is nothing but Nazi propaganda bunk (which it is by popular consensus), isn't it likely that Moore's film is also political bunk by the same logic?

I haven't seen the film, so I'm not going to make any judgments on the film itself (I will say that I'm looking forwards to watching it, as I understand that it is very funny indeed). However, I just wanted to point out the dodginess of the Tarantino claim, as well as the inherently dodgy nature of 'documentary' film making.

- Art Neuro