Jason & Don

Q4. Your main character Julian Lamont is an artist, who creates a new artistic movement called "Destructionism". He's a talented artist, yet he's an alcoholic. After a rough night, he creates "Destructionism" by literally destroying his art work. As an artist yourself, how did you create the idea of 'Destructionism'?

There is a famous painting in L.A. by Manet [Sel's Note - Edouard Manet is a French Realist/Impressionist Painter, 1832-1883] of a bum... The painting is huge... When I was a little kid, I was with my father and he was telling me how amazing it was that a guy could paint something and people will now remember him for hundreds and hundreds of years... I looked my dad straight in the eye and said "Who cares if you are dead."

When you are young, you say things to your parents hoping to hurt them. My dad never said anything and because he said nothing I think it always stuck with me.

It's true if we aren't here to make our statement what are we here for? The other part is it bugged me that people know Van Gogh as the guy who cut his ear off. People don't just cut their ears off... There is more to it! I wanted people to recognize and think about the inner torment that must affect a guy like that... Not just for his expression (his art works) but for himself...

Think about the guy behind the mask sometimes...

Q5. With art, you create, and yet with Destructionism, you are forced to destroy what you've created in order to give meaning to Destructionism. Part of the worth of Destructionism seems to be in proportion of the value of what you've destroyed, as it gives it a greater meaning. Destructionism seems to be the complete antithesis of being an artist. How did you create "Destructionism?" It seems to me that it reflects a great amount of self-loathing and self-destruction on Julian’s part.

Destructionism was the hardest part of the film to come up with...

Most artists aspire to create their own "movement." Though I strongly support all forms of creativity, I think that artists spend too much time trying to be different instead of trying to be the best they can at what they already know. Collectively, we are still artists ~ don't try so hard to be unlike everyone else...

In The Still Life, Don’s character creates Destructionism as a way of making more money. It's a gimmick, a marketing ploy, and yet it works...

Was Da da a gimmick? How about Cubism? Whether I think so or not is not important, but art in and of itself should be OUR movement... There is a lot to think about when you really start to dissect the business behind what we call "art." Destructionism is a very plausible movement... That is scary! I hoped that in creating it, I also destroyed the idea of it.  It's a horrible concept...

When writing the film, I think I had a lot of anger in me. I hated growing up and hearing critics bash peoples’ self expression. There is a lot of rage in the film.

Rachel Miner's character thinks she is talented because she learned how to paint in school... Life is your school! Nothing can teach you more than doing it hands on. While I respect the institutes of learning, I don't respect the individuals who think they know it all because they've read all the books...

The other big theme of the film is isolation. Everyone in the film is lonely. I don't want to be the young artist who hates who he has become... I don't want to use a woman when deep down, I don't really love her (Rachel's character). I don't want to be old and alone (Terry Moore's character), I don't want to be that businessman who manipulates people for self gain (Don's character), I don't want to be the addictive art buyer who buys for investment purposes and thinks that because they fund someone else's existence they are now a part of them and owed something (Mr. Rifken), and lastly I fear the woman who is as intelligent as she is beautiful (Holly Fields character)...

Life is a maze that you have to work hard to make it through... If you so chose to be an artist do it for yourself but never isolate yourself... If you have no one to share success with, you are not successful.