In a YouTube video by Bliss Foster, avant-garde art is described not just as boundary-pushing but as an “encyclopedia” for future artists. Foster explains that avant-garde art serves as a reference point, a language that spreads its influence through symbols, themes, and styles. When avant-garde artists lay all their ideas on the table, they offer a set of tools, like symbols, techniques, and motifs, that other creators can borrow, incorporate, and evolve over time.

This perspective is especially interesting when considering Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon. Through this lens, Deren’s film does more than explore surreal, dreamlike imagery, it creates a foundational language from which other artists have used as a potential reference ever since. According to Spotlight Journal, Deren is considered the core visionary behind Meshes of the Afternoon, influencing filmmakers such as David Lynch. Lynch’s use of dream sequences and surreal imagery in films like Mulholland Drive can be directly traced back to Deren’s influence.

Lynch, David, and Maya Deren. “Meshes of Lynch.” Vimeo, uploaded by Nelson Carvajal, 20 Jan. 2017, https://vimeo.com/199829632.

(Interesting video – should definitely give it a watch!)

With Meshes of the Afternoon, Deren provides future filmmakers with a symbolic vocabulary. Its key characteristics such as the dreamlike sequences, shot angles/cuts (how and when they are used), and use of reoccurring symbolic objects (like the mirror-faced figure, knife, and key) become almost like new phrases in an artist’s language, ready to reappear and evolve in new contexts. Her work demonstrates how avant-garde art can shape the future of cinema, spreading as a kind of language that can inspire filmmakers. As Foster puts it, avant-garde art is about establishing a reference that other artists can learn from and incorporate, continuing the dialogue and expanding the language of cinema.

Sources:

Foster, Bliss. “The Purpose of Avant-Garde Art | Why It Matters.” YouTube, uploaded by Bliss Foster, 5 Sept. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wxQ8NywAYg.

“Meshes of the Afternoon: A Revolution in Filmmaking.” Spotlight Journal, Issue V, Spotlight Journal, 5 May 2021, www.spotlightjournal.org/issue-v/meshes-of-the-afternoon-a-revolution-in-filmmaking#:~:text=Today%2C%20Deren%20is%20viewed%20almost,significant%20spiritual%20successor%2C%20David%20Lynch.