There is a filmmaker named Nathaniel Dorsky who was recently featured in the Whitney Biennial, but who has been making his signature silent films since the '60s. Dorsky is known for his focus on detail. He will zoom in on one aspect of a scene and film it for hours, and in editing cut it together. But without his patience, no one else could get the footage he does; amazing film of sand whisking in the wind, raindrops on windows, the shifting light of leaves and flowers. To anyone without his eye, it wouldn't be as captivating, but his films are so incredible that he doesn't soundtrack them, and forces the viewer to watch them in silence. Yes, thirty minute silent films about sand. You kind of have to see it to understand. They aren't available online because it would be stupid to watch them there. Just trust me.
This Golden Retriever video has some scenes that remind me of Dorsky; long, focused shots of flowing water (with a guest star of sand!), clouds, different flowing water. But there is the added narrative of a single, rugged, presumably Pacific Northwestern man walking through the verdant paradise that exists there, in those soaked areas. You don't know if he's searching for something (a delicious forest treat?), or if he's just enjoying himself and his thoughts, but he seems relaxed. The music is full of bright notes and finely-tuned melodics. If he is looking for some sort of answer or truth, by the end we know that there is none except the perception of nature. —Ari Spool
Golden Retriever's beautiful Thrill Jockey album, Occupied with the Unspoken, is available now.
