patrick shen – director

patrick shen

director

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"In this, our age of anxiety, hyperstimulation pre

"In this, our age of anxiety, hyperstimulation precludes any contemplative gap. And true leisure is not simply the antipode of work. In the 1950s, Josef Pieper described Western culture as one of "total labor." He wrote extensively on leisure and how it differs from mere indolence: "The original conception of leisure, as it arose in the civilized world of Greece, has, however, become unrecognizable in the world of planned diligence. [...] Leisure, it must be remembered, is not a Sunday afternoon idyll, but the preserve of freedom, of education and culture, and of that undiminished humanity which views the world as a whole." Leisure is neither work nor idleness, not merely "the inevitable result of spare time." Rather it's "an attitude of mind [...] not being 'busy', but letting things happen." As contemporary philosopher Byung-Chul Han notes, "we live in a world that is altogether absorbed by work, efficiency and productivity. The ancient culture of leisure opens up the prospect for us of the possibility of an entirely different world." -Jonathan Simons, Life Beyond the Machine
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The fine humans at Analog Sea were kind enough to send me a small stack of copies of my pal / founding editor Jonathan Simons' essential essay Life Beyond the Machine & beautiful blank journals for my Patreon backers. I've got 2 pairs left for the next 2 who support me at $11 or higher. 🙏🏼 (link in bio)
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#jonathansimons #analogsea #patreon

Instagram post 17901629293907969

Instagram post 17901629293907969

#inpraiseofshadows

#inpraiseofshadows

Avila Beach, CA // June 2021

Avila Beach, CA // June 2021

Fly little one. Find your place in the world. The

Fly little one. Find your place in the world. The award-winning DAY OF A STRANGER - directed by @casshall / produced by me and with an elegant score by @alex_kozobolis & Ed Hamilton - is now available for rental + purchase. This quiet film has weaved its way into my being like few other projects have and I hope yours too. As usual, link in bio. Thanks for your support y'all.
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#thomasmerton #documentary #pursuitofsilence

There are so many projects that got away from me o

There are so many projects that got away from me over the years for one reason or another, but this one hurts the most. Taking its cues from the US and its Indian boarding school system, Canada and the Church attempted to erase thousands of years of indigenous culture from existence through their residential school system where thousands of kids were raped, murdered or left for dead after contracting diseases. The last school didn't close its doors until 1996. Back in 2007, days after we interviewed this survivor at Kamloops Residential School in BC, Canada (where just this week the unmarked graves of 215 First Nations children were discovered) I was robbed of all my gear and along with it, all of the footage from that trip. My heart goes out to those children, their families, and the First Nations people who are grieving over this horrific discovery, which is not the first, nor will it be the last. Who cursed humanity with the disease of superiority, the thought that one life could ever be more valuable than another? Looking back, maybe those dicks who stole my gear knew something I didn't; maybe I wasn't the right person to tell this story. As an outsider, perhaps this was not my story to tell.

Every creature, every object, every place has its

Every creature, every object, every place has its own ambiance.
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#henrymiller #specimen

"A dog is not considered a good dog because he is

"A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.” -Chuang Tzu
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Arcadia, CA // May 02021

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