amos vogel, film as a subversive art (1974)

it was marx who, when asked in an interview to characterize the meaning of life in a single word, unhesitatingly replied: “struggle.” was it a slip of the tongue that prevented him from limiting this definition to life ‘under capitalism,’ thus giving it the historical dimension he gave to every other phenomena? or was it not rather his realization, so often expressed in his philosophical writings, that the essence of life, under all circumstances and in all societies, was eternal change, the constant transformation of all forms and systems?

it is in this sense that the subject of this book will always remain on the agenda, and that these pages are but a rough draft; for the subject of this book is human freedom, and its guardians, at all times and under all conditions, are the subversives.

Alfred Kubin

Alfred Kubin was (perhaps) a little off. Born in Austria in 1877, Alfred tried killing himself on his mother’s grave when he was 19 years old. From 1906 until he died in 1959 he lived in a small castle, away from society, in northern Austria. Besides painting and illustrating, he also wrote, and went on to publish nine books after secluding himself.