Summary

A conversation on texture as evidence of a person — what 16mm, tape hiss, and visible brushwork promise, and what they can fake.

Triggered by

An argument about whether film grain means anything anymore, held in a kitchen, unresolved.

Next move

Push the fake-grain thread until it meets Against Polish on its own ground.

In argument with

References

• Jean-Luc Godard — Breathless film, 1960
• Sigmar Polke — raster paintings painting
• Laura Mulvey — Death 24x a Second book, 2006

Still open

• Can a cut be honest?
• Virtuosity as a mask for doubt
• Distress: evidence or costume?
• Who is permitted to be rough?

Considered, rejected

• A grain-versus-digital comparison chart — the chart won too easily
• Interviewing a colorist — the conversation kept sliding into gear talk

Also here

• The Serial Impulse
• On Standing Still
• Against Polish