Published
1-7-2025
Type of Work
Conference Presentation
Advisors and Contributors
N/A
Project Affiliation
Revelation Film Festival
Abstract
This paper is a homage to the power of No and the act of rejection as a creative force and impetus. The paper will use ,as a case study, the raising of interest and funds for a recently completed independent Australian documentary called Stelarc -Suspending Disbelief. In essence the production is a bio -pic of one of Australia's most notorious performance artists - a Melbourne based man who goes simply by the name of Stelarc.
Apart from a narrative that positions the production as an outlier ,the paper will include references to correspondence and funding agreements /disagreements over a 5 year period. These materials will be adapted in a creative fashion - poetry , song lyrics - in a bid to highlight and perforate the idiosyncratic language employed by funding authorities. The paper is not intended to be another negative tale about lack of funding or resources in the film industry. Partly because that is such a tired narrative now, but also because in the end ,it was a complicated mathematical calculation ( as opposed to actual content ) that turned multiple Nos into a resounding Yes.
On a deeper level the paper will query and probe how it may demonstrate how the force of NO was one of the strongest dramatic imperatives for a backyard team desperate to tell a tale. Can the Via Negativa become a force for good ? Should we all adopt no as a guiding light ? This paper will be a corollary to the screening of Stelarc Suspending Disbelief at the Revelation Film Festival in July.
Citation
Moore, R. (2025). The Power of No ..as a creative path [Conference Presentation, SAE University College]. Creo.