The Mirror

Fever Dreams is a miniseries featuring works of fiction, essays and non-fiction read without embellishment or analysis. Literature was my first great artistic love, and I regard it as possibly the richest art form, with its ability to showcase the dark interior of humanity, and traverse time, place and space unlike any other medium. Fever Dreams features a selection of the macabre and the mundane, the fantastical and the concrete, works that have struck me in a meaningful fashion, and that I feel are worth sharing.

Our third dream is Good For Nothing, by Mark Fisher. This essay details the mental health suffering of the writer and cultural critic Mark Fisher, whose work has been incredibly influential over the past decade in left-wing thought, as well impacting the culture through his relationship with musicians and artists like The Caretaker and Burial. In Good For Nothing, Fisher ties his own experiences to the collective depression we all experience under contemporary capitalism, making the necessary connection that our mental health crises are political.

This essay was published in 2014 via The Occupied Times. Tragically, Mark Fisher took his own life in 2017 after a lifetime of struggling with debilitating depression. His work remains as poignant and prescient as ever and his book Capitalist Realism is essential reading. On a very personal note, this essay describes nearly exactly the reality of my life as I have experienced it, so for this reason as well, Fisher's work is incredibly important to me.

Support my work on Patreon - patreon.com/justinreid

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $4 a month.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

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Thank you for listening to The Mirror - your support has been incredible so far, and it has been heartening to hear the response to this project. All future episodes of The Mirror are available on my Patreon for just $4 a month (or more if you're feeling generous), so please sign up at www.patreon.com/justinreid.

Along with episodes of The Mirror, Patrons will receive discounts for my online store, exclusive videos, early access to my work, and higher tier subscribers even receive premium films for free.

Thank you again, and see you over at www.patreon.com/justinreid.

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From a small slice of paradise, in Episode 13 of The Mirror, I discuss my personal experience that led me to the path of becoming an artist, and pose the questions I feel one must ask themselves when determining if the art life is just a hobby, or a complete lifestyle choice. I get very philosophical, attempting to describe art and it's role for humanity, as well as the benefits of working with physical mediums, and the many various forms that cinema can take. I have shared in the episode links a selection of incredibly experimental, avant-garde, and revolutionary films from throughout film history, that I feel any artist would get a lot from.

Support the project at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $40 a year.

The Mirror looks at cultural production through a critical and philosophical lens, emphasising the importance of historical understanding, deep reflection, and true situational awareness for developing higher levels of craftsmanship and discipline in artistic practice.

Episode Links:

• A Trip to the Moon - George Méliès (1902) - Complete Film
• Meshes of the Afternoon - Maya Deren (1943) - Complete Film
• The Alphabet - David Lynch (1968) - Complete Film + Commentary
• Stellar - Stan Brakhage (1993) - Complete Film
• Outer Space - Peter Tscherkassky (1999) - Complete Film
• Hinterlands - Scott Barley (2016) - Complete Film

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive segments featuring original, meditative imagery: Justin Reid - YouTube

Become a sustaining member and support the creation of compelling works of art and film, while receiving a range of great benefits, including:

• Access to exclusive films, artworks and behind the scenes material on my Membership platform that you can't experience anywhere else
• A 10% discount across my store, including all of the premium films I produce, and
• Higher tier subscribers even get free access to all of my premium films before anyone else

Sign up now at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following a free-form narrative thread centred around our seeking of pleasure and catharsis within entertainment, Episode 12 of The Mirror is the strongest manifesto yet of my beliefs about art, the current cultural and material conditions we find ourselves in, and the alternatives available to us. I speak about the political cooptation of art by commercial interests, and the way this limits our imagination of the forms that art can take, as well as how our lives have become completely mediated by the frictionless fantasies offered to us by the Internet. Touching on the film work of Bela Tarr and Michael Haneke, which form a counterpoint to the dominant commercial format and language of Hollywood Cinema, I return to the necessity of needing to develop your own craft, beyond the reach and influence of the monoculture.

Support the project at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $40 a year.

The Mirror looks at cultural production through a critical and philosophical lens, emphasising the importance of historical understanding, deep reflection, and true situational awareness for developing higher levels of craftsmanship and discipline in artistic practice.

Episode Links:

• How TV Became Respectable Without Getting Better - Matt Christman (Current Affairs)
• Forward Left: An Interview with Matt Christman of Chapo Trap House - Lucy Schiller (Counterpunch)
• The Turin Horse - Bela Tarr (2011) - Complete Film
• Funny Games - Michael Haneke (1997) - Complete Film

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive segments featuring original, meditative imagery: Justin Reid - YouTube

Become a sustaining member and support the creation of compelling works of art and film, while receiving a range of great benefits, including:

• Access to exclusive films, artworks and behind the scenes material on my Membership platform that you can't experience anywhere else
• A 10% discount across my store, including all of the premium films I produce, and
• Higher tier subscribers even get free access to all of my premium films before anyone else

Sign up now at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fever Dreams is a miniseries featuring works of fiction, essays and non-fiction read without embellishment or analysis. Literature was my first great artistic love, and I regard it as possibly the richest art form, with its ability to showcase the dark interior of humanity, and traverse time, place and space unlike any other medium. Fever Dreams features a selection of the macabre and the mundane, the fantastical and the concrete, works that have struck me in a meaningful fashion, and that I feel are worth sharing.

Our second dream is The Flash, by Italo Calvino. This short story was published as part of a posthumous collection of previously unreleased work collected from throughout the author's life, titled Numbers in the Dark. Calvino's work is widely published, and you can find his work at book stores and libraries worldwide.

Support the project at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $40 a year.

The Mirror looks at cultural production through a critical and philosophical lens, emphasising the importance of historical understanding, deep reflection, and true situational awareness for developing higher levels of craftsmanship and discipline in artistic practice.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive segments featuring original, meditative imagery: Justin Reid - YouTube

Become a sustaining member and support the creation of compelling works of art and film, while receiving a range of great benefits, including:

• Access to exclusive films, artworks and behind the scenes material on my Membership platform that you can't experience anywhere else
• A 10% discount across my store, including all of the premium films I produce, and
• Higher tier subscribers even get free access to all of my premium films before anyone else

Sign up now at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode, we look at the life, work and philosophy of Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. Tarkovsky and his films have been a major inspiration for me, and I share with you the story of his life, as well as exploring his philosophy on cinema as an art form through a series of speeches and writings taken from throughout his career. Tarkovsky viewed cinema as an art form that is as important to humanity as painting, poetry, music, and philosophy, and this is evident in his films as well as in the way he lived his life.

Support the project at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $40 a year.

The Mirror looks at cultural production through a critical and philosophical lens, emphasising the importance of historical understanding, deep reflection, and true situational awareness for developing higher levels of craftsmanship and discipline in artistic practice.

Andrei Tarkovsky's Films:

• Ivan's Childhood (1962)
• Andrei Rublev (1966)
• Solaris (1972)
• Stalker (1979)
• Mirror (1975)
• Nostalghia (1983)
• The Sacrifice (1986)

Episode Links:

• Transcendental Style in Film | Paul Schrader | TIFF
• Funny Games - Michael Haneke (Full Movie)
• David Bowie: to be an artist is to be "dysfunctional" | Charlie Rose

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive segments featuring original, meditative imagery: Justin Reid - YouTube

Become a sustaining member and support the creation of compelling works of art and film, while receiving a range of great benefits, including:

• Access to exclusive films, artworks and behind the scenes material on my Membership platform that you can't experience anywhere else
• A 10% discount across my store, including all of the premium films I produce, and
• Higher tier subscribers even get free access to all of my premium films before anyone else

Sign up now at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We finish our Dosing Culture reading series with the second part of Chris Crawford's illuminating essay, which delves deeper into how contemporary modes of creative production are built around our psychotically-networked culture, as well as situating the historical role of art as that which points to universal truths and the possibility of a truly human world. As with the previous episode, I'd highly recommend you read both parts of the essay in full, linked below, and make some time to reflect upon how this relates to your own consumption habits and creative process.

Support the project at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $40 a year.

The Mirror looks at cultural production through a critical and philosophical lens, emphasising the importance of historical understanding, deep reflection, and true situational awareness for developing higher levels of craftsmanship and discipline in artistic practice.

Episode Links:

• Dosing Culture, Part Two - Chris Crawford (Damage Mag)
• Applied Roganism - Elia Tommaso (Damage Mag)

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive segments featuring original, meditative imagery: Justin Reid - YouTube

Become a sustaining member and support the creation of compelling works of art and film, while receiving a range of great benefits, including:

• Access to exclusive films, artworks and behind the scenes material on my Membership platform that you can't experience anywhere else
• A 10% discount across my store, including all of the premium films I produce, and
• Higher tier subscribers even get free access to all of my premium films before anyone else

Sign up now at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Episode 9 of The Mirror, I share with you an essay by Chris Crawford about the way contemporary culture is produced and consumed in an endless stream of doses, and the psychological effects this has on us. I read the first part of this illuminating and fantastic essay in full, and then share my thoughts and reactions to it, going into detail how after first reading it I had a coming to god moment in regards to my own life, habits and experience of consuming culture. This work truly puts into words that which I have felt but could not articulate, so I'm excited to share it with you and I hope you get something from it as well. I highly urge you to read it in full (the link is below), and I will be sharing with you my reading of Part Two in the next episode.

Support the project at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $40 a year.

The Mirror looks at cultural production through a critical and philosophical lens, emphasising the importance of historical understanding, deep reflection, and true situational awareness for developing higher levels of craftsmanship and discipline in artistic practice.

Episode Links:

• Dosing Culture, Part One - Chris Crawford (Damage Mag)
• Justin Reid - Contact form
• Justin Reid - YouTube Channel (Subscribe here)

List of Films Recommended:

• Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (Watch on YouTube)
• Un Chien Andalou - Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dalí (Watch on YouTube)
• House - Nobuhiko Obayashi (Purchase from the US at Criterion Collection, or watch on Amazon US with a VPN)
• Chungking Express - Wong Kar Wai (Stream on MUBI Brazil with a VPN)
• Bacurau - Kleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano Dornelles (Stream on MUBI UK with a VPN)
• Perfect Blue - Satoshi Kon (Harder to track down - but it's out there for those eager to find it)
• La Jetee - Chris Marker (Watch on YouTube)
• Waltz with Bashir - Ari Folman (Watch on YouTube)
• Punch-Drunk Love - Paul Thomas Anderson (Stream on Stan)
• Blue Velvet - David Lynch (Stream on Stan)

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive segments featuring original, meditative imagery: Justin Reid - YouTube

Become a sustaining member and support the creation of compelling works of art and film, while receiving a range of great benefits, including:

• Access to exclusive films, artworks and behind the scenes material on my Membership platform that you can't experience anywhere else
• A 10% discount across my store, including all of the premium films I produce, and
• Higher tier subscribers even get free access to all of my premium films before anyone else

Sign up now at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Episode 8 of The Mirror, I ruminate on the double-edged sword of entertainment, touching upon the work of Sigmund Freud and his Pleasure Principle, and how this affects the way we both view and create contemporary works of art. One of the dangers of our entertainment-based culture is a watering down and limiting of our imagination, and the creations that are birthed from it. For the main portion of the episode, I then outline my approach to making space in your life for Intentional Art Experiences - how I've largely extricated myself from the endless streams of content in search of richer, more rewarding and challenging works both screen-based and in the material world that inform my own practice and imagination.

Support the project at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $40 a year.

The Mirror looks at cultural production through a critical and philosophical lens, emphasising the importance of historical understanding, deep reflection, and true situational awareness for developing higher levels of craftsmanship and discipline in artistic practice.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive segments featuring original, meditative imagery: Justin Reid - YouTube

Become a sustaining member and support the creation of compelling works of art and film, while receiving a range of great benefits, including:

• Access to exclusive films, artworks and behind the scenes material on my Membership platform that you can't experience anywhere else
• A 10% discount across my store, including all of the premium films I produce, and
• Higher tier subscribers even get free access to all of my premium films before anyone else

Sign up now at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fever Dreams is a miniseries featuring works of fiction, essays and non-fiction read without embellishment or analysis. Literature was my first great artistic love, and I regard it as possibly the richest art form, with its ability to showcase the dark interior of humanity, and traverse time, place and space unlike any other medium. Fever Dreams features a selection of the macabre and the mundane, the fantastical and the concrete, works that have struck me in a meaningful fashion, and that I feel are worth sharing.

Our first dream is Dagon, by Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Written in 1917, it was the first of many stories by Lovecraft which are considered part of his Cthulhu Mythos, featuring cosmic entities and unimaginable horrors. If you enjoy this story, I'd highly recommend his longer tale The Colour Out Of Space, which I regard as his finest writing and storytelling, and which I may consider reading for a future dream. You can read his stories online at the H.P. Lovecraft Archive.

Support the project at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

Become a sustaining member, and support independent art and film for as little as $40 a year.

The Mirror looks at cultural production through a critical and philosophical lens, emphasising the importance of historical understanding, deep reflection, and true situational awareness for developing higher levels of craftsmanship and discipline in artistic practice.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for full episodes and exclusive segments featuring original, meditative imagery: Justin Reid - YouTube

Become a sustaining member and support the creation of compelling works of art and film, while receiving a range of great benefits, including:

• Access to exclusive films, artworks and behind the scenes material on my Membership platform that you can't experience anywhere else
• A 10% discount across my store, including all of the premium films I produce, and
• Higher tier subscribers even get free access to all of my premium films before anyone else

Sign up now at www.justinreid.com.au/support.

The Mirror Theme is written, produced and performed by Annalisa Vetrugno, with drums contributed by Giacomo Greco.

You can find their work here:

Annalisa Vetrugno - Commissions | Instagram

Giacomo Greco - Instagram

View my portfolio, get in touch or enquire about commissions via my website: www.justinreid.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.