This artwork is a still from “59,” an experimental film installation I created with the following restrictions: I had to direct eleven 59-second films in eleven months with eleven collaborating artists, none of whom could be cis men.In the resulting project, we used film and those eleven short moments to capture our unique, fragile experiences. We explored everything from the way in which facets of personality drift in and out of the subconscious to the beautiful, mercurial nature of gender

Foster, Henry Leslie, II

English

Scholarship@Claremont

The STEAM JournalVolume 3Issue 1 Sediment Article 18November 2017On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment fromExperimental Film "59.10"Henry Leslie Foster IISouthern Adventist UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steamPart of the Film Production Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, andTransgender Studies Commons, and the Visual Studies Commons© November 2017 by the author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivativesLicense.STEAM is a bi-annual journal published by the Claremont Colleges Library | ISSN 2327-2074 | http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steamRecommended CitationFoster, Henry Leslie II (2017) "On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film "59.10"," The STEAM Journal: Vol. 3:Iss. 1, Article 18. DOI: 10.5642/steam.20170301.18Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol3/iss1/18On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film "59.10"AbstractThis artwork is a still from “59,” an experimental film installation I created with the following restrictions: Ihad to direct eleven 59-second films in eleven months with eleven collaborating artists, none of whom couldbe cis men.In the resulting project, we used film and those eleven short moments to capture our unique,fragile experiences. We explored everything from the way in which facets of personality drift in and out of thesubconscious to the beautiful, mercurial nature of gender.Author/Artist BioH. Leslie Foster II is an urban nomad. Born in Singapore to American parents in October, 1984, heexperienced his first plane flight 6 months later and has not stopped traveling since. Raised in Indonesia,Michigan, the Philippines, and Thailand, Leslie gained a unique aesthetic sensibility. After studying biology inThailand and German in Austria and Germany, Leslie completed a film production B.S. and a InternationalStudies B.A. at Southern Adventist University in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Over his career, Leslie has shotmusic videos in Serbia and Poland, written a script a day for an entire year, started a non-profit film productioncompany, spent 5 weeks undercover in Jamaica shooting a documentary about violent homophobia, andbraved an Austrian blizzard or two. In 2013, Leslie began to combine his more experimental film sensibilitieswith installation art and has been a part of several group shows. He and his collective, Nomad Solstice, hadtheir first solo show, a five film series entitled “Ritual Cycle,” in February, 2016. His second show, "59," createdwith 11 other collaborating artists, debuted in May, 2017.Keywordsexperimental film, gallery installation, relational aesthetics, avant garde cinema, Maya Deren, Waking Life,Richard LinklaterCover Page FootnoteMy many thanks to Britta Kaye and my collaborators, Angelina Prendergast, Madeline Merritt, KC Slack,DeiSelah Thompson, Maranatha & Jackie Hay, Sheridan Irwin, Tatiana El-Khouri, Jacqueline Suskin, JadePhoenix Martinez, Sarah London, and Rae Threat.Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0License.This artwork is available in The STEAM Journal: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol3/iss1/18     On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film "59.10"  Henry Leslie Foster II 1Foster: "59.10" - On Capturing the IneffableOn Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film "59.10"  Henry Leslie Foster II  The image above is a still from “59,” an experimental film installation I created with the following restrictions: I had to direct eleven 59-second films in eleven months with eleven collaborating artists, none of whom could be cis men. In the resulting project, we used film and those eleven short moments to capture our unique, fragile experiences. We explored everything from the way in which facets of personality drift in and out of the subconscious to the beautiful, mercurial nature of gender. The restrictions were chosen specifically to mimic and subvert the pithy structure of the television commercial as well as the cis-male dominant power structure of the entertainment industry. The beauty of film as the chosen medium is the marriage of the cold and mechanical—thin celluloid pulled past a half-moon shutter by a mechanism based on a sewing machine needle or light ingested through a chip then rendered into data—and the ineffable. By its nature it is illusive: images interspersed with a darkness that is erased through persistence of vision. Each flicker denies the viewer solid ground. One can wrestle against the liminality or embrace the fluidity of the ever-changing image. It is appropriate that experimental artists should use this medium in an attempt to preserve ephemeral human experiences. Maya Deren, known as the mother of avant-garde cinema, stated, “Inasmuch as other art forms are not constituted of reality itself, they create metaphors for reality. But photography, being itself the reality or the equivalent thereof, can use its own reality as a metaphor for ideas and abstractions” (Deren, 1960 p. 221).   2The STEAM Journal, Vol. 3, Iss. 1 [2017], Art. 18http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol3/iss1/18There is a beauty in using what is perceived as reality to subvert a viewer’s understanding of visual fact. This is often disconcerting and even frustrating to audience members, but allows for the exploration of difficult ideas. In that liminal space where the tangible is more evanescent than first assumed, marginalized artists, especially members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, find space in which to explore and communicate their experiences. The feelings of discomfort can be used to create empathy and greater understanding of experiences that are hard to internalize through other media. In Richard Linklater’s film, ‘Waking Life’ Caveh Zahedi speaks of the power of film to capture a “holy moment.” (Walker-McBay et al, 2002). I believe Zahedi is, in part, discussing the moment where the chemistry of light bathing emulsion to create image after image meets the expression of an evanescent idea, and where a viewer, if even for a moment, becomes aware of that profound intersection and is transported. The additive property of those elements is the genius of filmmaking, and those moments, more available when artists push past linear storytelling, are what those of us who are experimental filmmakers hope to achieve.                 3Foster: "59.10" - On Capturing the IneffableReferences  Deren, M. (1960). Cinematography: The Creative Use of Reality. Daedalus 89, (1) 150-67. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20026556.  Walker-McBay, Anne, Tommy Pallotta, Palmer West, Jonah Smith, Richard Linklater, Trevor Jack Brooks, Lorelei Linklater 2002. Waking life. [United States]: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment  4The STEAM Journal, Vol. 3, Iss. 1 [2017], Art. 18http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol3/iss1/18

On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film  59.10

Keck Graduate Institute

The STEAM Journal
Volume 3
Issue 1 Sediment Article 18
November 2017
On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from
Experimental Film "59.10"
Henry Leslie Foster II
Southern Adventist University
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam
Part of the Film Production Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Studies Commons, and the Visual Studies Commons
© November 2017 by the author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives
License.
STEAM is a bi-annual journal published by the Claremont Colleges Library | ISSN 2327-2074 | http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam
Recommended Citation
Foster, Henry Leslie II (2017) "On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film "59.10"," The STEAM Journal: Vol. 3:
Iss. 1, Article 18. DOI: 10.5642/steam.20170301.18
Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol3/iss1/18
On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film "59.10"
Abstract
This artwork is a still from “59,” an experimental film installation I created with the following restrictions: I
had to direct eleven 59-second films in eleven months with eleven collaborating artists, none of whom could
be cis men.In the resulting project, we used film and those eleven short moments to capture our unique,
fragile experiences. We explored everything from the way in which facets of personality drift in and out of the
subconscious to the beautiful, mercurial nature of gender.
Author/Artist Bio
H. Leslie Foster II is an urban nomad. Born in Singapore to American parents in October, 1984, he
experienced his first plane flight 6 months later and has not stopped traveling since. Raised in Indonesia,
Michigan, the Philippines, and Thailand, Leslie gained a unique aesthetic sensibility. After studying biology in
Thailand and German in Austria and Germany, Leslie completed a film production B.S. and a International
Studies B.A. at Southern Adventist University in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Over his career, Leslie has shot
music videos in Serbia and Poland, written a script a day for an entire year, started a non-profit film production
company, spent 5 weeks undercover in Jamaica shooting a documentary about violent homophobia, and
braved an Austrian blizzard or two. In 2013, Leslie began to combine his more experimental film sensibilities
with installation art and has been a part of several group shows. He and his collective, Nomad Solstice, had
their first solo show, a five film series entitled “Ritual Cycle,” in February, 2016. His second show, "59," created
with 11 other collaborating artists, debuted in May, 2017.
Keywords
experimental film, gallery installation, relational aesthetics, avant garde cinema, Maya Deren, Waking Life,
Richard Linklater
Cover Page Footnote
My many thanks to Britta Kaye and my collaborators, Angelina Prendergast, Madeline Merritt, KC Slack,
DeiSelah Thompson, Maranatha & Jackie Hay, Sheridan Irwin, Tatiana El-Khouri, Jacqueline Suskin, Jade
Phoenix Martinez, Sarah London, and Rae Threat.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0
License.
This artwork is available in The STEAM Journal: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol3/iss1/18
  
 
 
 
On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film "59.10" 
 
Henry Leslie Foster II 
1
Foster: "59.10" - On Capturing the Ineffable
On Capturing the Ineffable: A Moment from Experimental Film "59.10" 
 
Henry Leslie Foster II 
 
The image above is a still from “59,” an experimental film installation I created with the 
following restrictions: I had to direct eleven 59-second films in eleven months with eleven 
collaborating artists, none of whom could be cis men. 
In the resulting project, we used film and those eleven short moments to capture our unique, 
fragile experiences. We explored everything from the way in which facets of personality drift in 
and out of the subconscious to the beautiful, mercurial nature of gender. The restrictions were 
chosen specifically to mimic and subvert the pithy structure of the television commercial as well 
as the cis-male dominant power structure of the entertainment industry. 
The beauty of film as the chosen medium is the marriage of the cold and mechanical—thin 
celluloid pulled past a half-moon shutter by a mechanism based on a sewing machine needle or 
light ingested through a chip then rendered into data—and the ineffable. By its nature it is illusive: 
images interspersed with a darkness that is erased through persistence of vision. Each flicker denies 
the viewer solid ground. One can wrestle against the liminality or embrace the fluidity of the ever-
changing image. 
It is appropriate that experimental artists should use this medium in an attempt to preserve 
ephemeral human experiences. Maya Deren, known as the mother of avant-garde cinema, stated, 
“Inasmuch as other art forms are not constituted of reality itself, they create metaphors for reality. 
But photography, being itself the reality or the equivalent thereof, can use its own reality as a 
metaphor for ideas and abstractions” (Deren, 1960 p. 221).  
 
2
The STEAM Journal, Vol. 3, Iss. 1 [2017], Art. 18
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol3/iss1/18
There is a beauty in using what is perceived as reality to subvert a viewer’s understanding 
of visual fact. This is often disconcerting and even frustrating to audience members, but allows for 
the exploration of difficult ideas. In that liminal space where the tangible is more evanescent than 
first assumed, marginalized artists, especially members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of 
color, find space in which to explore and communicate their experiences. The feelings of 
discomfort can be used to create empathy and greater understanding of experiences that are hard 
to internalize through other media. 
In Richard Linklater’s film, ‘Waking Life’ Caveh Zahedi speaks of the power of film to 
capture a “holy moment.” (Walker-McBay et al, 2002). I believe Zahedi is, in part, discussing the 
moment where the chemistry of light bathing emulsion to create image after image meets the 
expression of an evanescent idea, and where a viewer, if even for a moment, becomes aware of 
that profound intersection and is transported. The additive property of those elements is the genius 
of filmmaking, and those moments, more available when artists push past linear storytelling, are 
what those of us who are experimental filmmakers hope to achieve. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3
Foster: "59.10" - On Capturing the Ineffable
References 
 
Deren, M. (1960). Cinematography: The Creative Use of Reality. Daedalus 89, (1) 150-67. 
Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20026556. 
 
Walker-McBay, Anne, Tommy Pallotta, Palmer West, Jonah Smith, Richard Linklater, Trevor 
Jack Brooks, Lorelei Linklater 2002. Waking life. [United States]: 20th Century Fox Home 
Entertainment 
 
4
The STEAM Journal, Vol. 3, Iss. 1 [2017], Art. 18
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol3/iss1/18


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