Beautiful Losers

I borrowed this incredible, amazing film, Beautiful Losers from a friend this week. I know it's from a couple of years ago and maybe you've all seen it already. But I am off from work today so made myself a cup of coffee and settled in bed to watch it.

It has been a wonderful way to spend my day. I am still processing it all but I have a major new fascination with Mike Mills, one of the artists featured in the film. Most of what he said in the film was very moving and profound to me, like in the chapter called Success in Art and Commerce, he said, "I am wary of my involvement in my artwork."

I have experienced that my whole adult life from every single essay I wrote to earn my English degree and now in my photography. I never put it into words like that but when I heard him say that, it was phenomenal and instant for me -- a suddenly authentic realization about me, and my own artistic self.

I could (and might!) do an entire blog post about Mike Mills but for now, here is a clip from the dvd featuring Mike. It's one of the extras. I just love it.

If you have seen it, or plan to see it now, I would definitely LOVE to hear your thoughts on the film. Like I said, I'm still processing. I can't even get started about Margaret Kilgallen right now. Too raw.

Update: Alex shared her September 2009 post about Margaret with me via Twitter. It is worth your time. I left a comment on her post explaining a little bit about why it's hard for me to talk about Margaret.