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The Birds of Paradise
UNITED STATES · 1999

The Birds of Paradise

Stan Brakhage
abstract animation nature metamorphosis hand-painted film bird imagery floral symbolism
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Synopsis

This is a hand-painted work which involves a variety of colors applied within gouged and scratched shapes which approximate both swift shifts of bird-shape (legs, beaks and feather-spreads especially) and the Bird of Paradise flower-form as well, the former tending to metamorphize into the latter across the course of the work. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2017.

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