Sometimes reading the booklets that come along with Criterion releases can be highly beneficial. After reading a brief section that focuses on this very film, I respect it a little more than I would have without reading it, for the story behind the making of this experimental short is surprisingly fascinating. I will directly (and briefly) quote the section, because I cannot explain this behind the scenes story any better. The booklet reads: "Invited to Riverside, California, Brakhage , under the mistaken impression that it was a desert, was planning a desert movie when he arrived to discover an unattractive suburban landscape. So he decided to make, and shoot, a desert on his motel room table." (this interesting text was written by Brakhage expert Fred Camper).
How cool is that?
It is also important to note that there IS some bits and pieces of footage from an actual desert, but a majority of the short seems to just be made up of mundane, inanimate objects that Brkahage's beautiful vision transformed into an epic landscape. Brakhage really had quite the imagination!
