Jordan Belson: Films Sacred and Profane

Anyone with half an interest in art has heard of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. But who knew that it was once called the Museum of Non-Objective Painting? It’s a shame it ever changed. Like, ‘Guggenheim’ is a cool word, but it sure doesn’t have the same ring as 'Museum of Non-Objective Painting'.

Anyway, back in the fifties, this Museum of Non-Objective Painting gave a grant to a dude called Jordan Belson to produce some more of the appropriately experimental, non-objective and spiritually oriented film he was becoming famous for. Roughly five decades later, a new gallery with a typically conservative name opens up in Brisbane, and decides to stage an exhibition dedicated to the cinematic genre that this dude Belson helped create. What genre is that, you ask? Simple – 'Visual Music'.

Jordan Belson’s films explore the dynamism of sight and sound synaesthesia through form, colour, and rhythm in music. They’re really trippy and verge on sacred celestial experience. Best thing is, this dude is now 82 years old and is still making films, and shows no sign of becoming objective any time soon.