The Garden of Earthly Delights

This post is dedicated to our very intelligent and interesting friend Eli.


The Garden of Earthly Delights by Stan Brakhage.

"he chose to live on his mountain patch until the end of his days, capturing 'the eventuality of everyday living.' With a camera in hand, he set about transforming himself into 'a collector of light, 24 hours a day.'" -Karli Lukas

Mr. Brakhage is like a leaf, collecting light. When I first heard the name Mr. Brakhage, I immediatly associated him with a bract. Im glad I did. It all makes sense to me.

In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, from the axil of which a flower or flower- stalk arises. A bract may also be any leaf associated with an inflorescence. Usually bracts are green and resemble the other leaves. Some bracts, however, are brightly colored and serve the function of attracting pollinators, either in concert with or instead of the tepals. - wikipedia

Many bracts are infact commonly mistaken for petals. Here are some examples:


bract


bract


bract