20 films that most influenced me ::: David Stanley Aponte

1/20 I started watching films as a kid either going to local movie theaters with family, watching films at home rented from Blockbuster or West Coast Video or go to my grandparents house to watch HBO or Prism. I really started to watch every film I could rent after a trip to Puerto Rico when I was 16 where I had a vision in a dream of nothingness that caused me to have insomnia until my early 20's. Some of the early "art house" films I saw were Akira Kurosawa films since I was told by my elders how they influenced American Westerns. So of course Kurosawa's film Yojimbo is one of my favorites (and the followup film Sanjuro). I love Yojimbo's character the roaming masterless Ronin who floats from town to town helping people who exploited by others and not wanting any credit in the end or reward. 

2/20 Jubliee (1978), directed by Derek Jarman is in my opinion the best apocalyptic, punk rawk, occult films! A great English punk cast featuring Adam Ant, Siouxsie and the Banshee, Jayne County, with some music by Brian Eno. The story around Dr. John Dee court alchemist for queen Elizabeth taking her to the future of apocalyptic England... where gangs of punks run through the streets and capitalist record producers control the media! This film was a huge influence on me and this scene from Jubilee here has Jarman doing a shot out to Jean Cocteau's character "Cégeste" (with the skull mask) from the 1960 film "Testament of Orpheus". If you watch Jubilee look for Jack Birkett one of my favorite English theater performance as the Borgia Ginz.

3/20 I first saw the 1982 film "Liquid Sky" in Dallas Texas nearly 20 years ago with good friends of mine. The film and it's soundtrack blew my mind and was a huge door that furthered my my all ready existing interest in strange electronic music, fashion and art. After seeing the film my friends and I lucked out going to a movie warehouse that use to be on Greenville avenue and we found bootleg copies of the film on DVD. My friends found a copy of the record at Half Price books back when they still sold vinyl really cheap. One of my greatest pleasures was being allowed to borrow my friends copy of the record to play at a warehouse party in the cedars of Dallas.

4/20 "Repo Man", directed by Alex cox is another classic punk film. I first saw the film as a teenager and had the soundtrack since I was a teen as well. My flat mate and I got to see Alex Cox speak about the film and directing it about a year ago at PhilaMOCA which was great to see. I would say that this is one of the top 10 films I have liked for a long time even though I would say that "Walker" might be my favorite Alex Cox film outside of top ten films that influenced me. Some of my favorite movie lines come from this film and I also like how in this film Cox's references Micky Splaine's "Kiss Me Deadly" with a kind of theme of "Pandora's box". I also have watched this film at one of the Aponte family reunions where I discovered that this film is also one of my uncles favorite films.

5/20 "Testament of Orpheus", directed by Jean Cocteau 1960 is part three in "The Orphic Trilogy" which I first saw before it was released on DVD by renting the VHS from Premiere Video in Dallas Texas. This film was very mind blowing and gave me chills down my spine and out of the three films in the trilogy is my favorite. The scene with the Roma folk in the ruins is one of the most mystifying scenes to me in cinema. The layers of time, facing death, mortality, the Goddess Athena, passing by Lazarus, so much imagery in this film. I had been given a copy of the trilogy by my grandmother as a birthday present one year and I remember doing a showing of the film for friends in my studio salon around 2005 near 13th and Pine because it influenced me so much and every time I watch it I still get tingles. Look for cameos of Yul Brynner and Pablo Picasso.

6/20 The Devils, directed by Ken Russel is a film based on a book by Aldous Huxley "The Devils of Loudun". It was very hard to find but around 2008 I found a bootleg copy from England which I ordered to show the film part of film series at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine arts that I was co-curating. The set design is done by Derek Jarman who is one of my favorite directors and in the first scene in the film it has the Jarman look all over the set. I had seen many other Ken Russel films as an art student in high school such as "Dante's Inferno" (a film about the artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti), and the infamous "Lair of the White Worm". I would say that "the Devils" is my favorite Ken Russel film and on my top ten films as well. I especially like the historic aspect of the film touching base on issues with monarchy control over city states in France in the 17th century and the conflicts between the catholic majority and protestant minority. There is much more that can be talked about of this film but I suggest if you can find a copy and check it out.

7/20 The Holy Mountain, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky 1973, was the 1st film I saw by Jodorowsky, as teenager in art school in Chicago. It was shown to me by my friend and band mate from art school in their families back living room. My friend wanted to trade me this cheap guitar I bought (from some shop off of the Wilson train stop), for NES with a bunch of games and after i watched this film I said yes lets trade. This film blew my mind even though the VHS copy we got was taken from the rare Japanese laserdisc which only blurred out parts with pubic hair with white circles. My friend told me the history of the production after the earlier film "El Topo" influenced the hippies so much. After I saw Holy Mountain I had found a copy of El Topo, watched in and of course I made copies for my home library (which in those days before youtube we all did with most films we got our hands on). There has been a lot written about this film so i won't say much more but I continued to watch the film again again with friends after moving to Dallas Texas in 1998.

8/20 F for Fake, directed by Orson Wells, 1975 was film I saw as an undergrad in art school. A professor of the masters program i went to school at would often show it in his seminar class but since this professor was a good friend and a member of my experimental noise band he suggested it to me. Later criterion collection released "F for Fake" on DVD and I asked Santa Claus for it for X-mas and got it. I had grown up with many Orson Wells films especially my father talking about the great "Citizen Kane" as well as great shots out to Wells in the Simpsons and the Critic. I was familiarize with the Wells radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" by my grandfather as a kid and it mystified me on the story of it. As a late teen and in my 20's I was quit found of American film Noir so seeing Wells's films was part of the cannon. When I finally saw "F for fake" it connected film, art and how I saw the world especially with my interests in magic and how to captivate an audience. I remember once a naive person in Philadelphia forgetting my pan like trickery accused me of being "Fake" myself and I thought "if they only saw F for Fake, then they would know the showmanship of magic (or magick) and the see the grand stage we all are on including myself".

9/20 The Magician, directed by Ingmar Bergman 1958 is a film i first saw on VHS but it was later released on DVD. It stars Max von Sydow which many or remember as the knight from Bergman's classic film "The Seventh Seal" (or one my remember the reference to the Seventh Seal in "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" where Bill and Ted defeat death in a game of Battleship). I will say that Ingmar Bergman did many classic films that are great and that I recommend to folk that are part of the cannon of western cinema but this film "The Magician" resinated with me when I first saw it as an art student 15 years ago. This film is an esoteric part of this collection of films that I selected so I don't want to say much more about it but if your into classic foreign or Bergman films it is highly suggested by me.

10/20 Downtown 81, directed by Edo Bertoglio and written and produced by Glenn O'Brien is classic Jean-Michel Basquiat. the film features music by bands such as Tuxedomoon, the Plastics, Melle Mel, Lounge Lizards, the Specials, DNA, Suicide, Kid Creole and cameos by Debbie Harry and many other artists and musicians from 1980 NYC scene. The era of NYC also reminded me a little bit of Philadelphia when I returned to Philly in 2003 before the city was very much developed in much of the same fate that NYC has faced over the years. The film shows an era long gone of New York avant garde art and underground culture before mass urban renewal and gentrification.#downtown81 #JeanMichelBasquiat
























too be continued...

YOUth

 

David Stanley Aponte, Sub- #5541, acrylic spray paint on printed paper, 2023

YOUth

Walking down abandoned train tracks in the forest outside of Allentown

The smell of Nag Champa and books in New Hope

Walking out of Whole Foods with Ale and Bread in Dallas

Paying overdue Blockbuster fees on Foster Avenue, Chicago

Dancing like you don’t care in Philadelphia

Getting so high that you can see the tiny city lights of Berlin on the ground 

Rolling like a maniac at Houston noise fest

Country Music K hole in Tulsa 

Falling on a skateboard ramp in Fort Worth

Fighting frat boys wearing  togas in Austin Texas

Buying weed from bikers in southwest Indiana

Playing Tron at Rubber Gloves in Denton

Reading the Sandman a tent on the beach in Assateague

Baltimore Basement slam dance at a punk house spilling a 40

Shoveling snow in Bethlehem and not thinking of Jesus

Rock, puke, Boston

Babysitting in Budd Lake

High from the sun and asleep on Trinity College quad

Christmas eve, Dr Who, Stewart Lee and Wire in London

Techno Buddha and Larry Jordan in Charlotte 

Vegan chicken fried steak in Portland Oregon 

Falling in love for 15 minutes in Maine

Ruins, fires and pizza in Detroit

Tattoos and airplanes in Milwaukee

Not feeling low in Duluth

Staring into the void in Arizona

Speaking with the ancients in New Mexico

Civil War statue with a kick in the balls in Cleveland 

Food coma in Pittsburgh

Asking why in Harrisburg

Fresh greens from old bearded Amish in Lancaster

Amsterdamaged, a Night Watch  and Van Gogh

Empty bottle of Bourbon, a punk house and fighting Nazi’s in Louisville

Mexican Food, wigwams shaped like teepees Pakistani owned in Cave City

Cincinnati Reds reading Debs

Lost in Chinatown until the  Two Bridges appear 

Death in Elkins park and life in Wissahickon

Unknown in Morristown

Wheatboi Dave, March 2023

Sub- #5569

David Stanley Aponte, Sub- #5528, acrylic spray paint on printed paper, 2023

Owl B Sure

 

Music List 002

David Stanley Aponte, Sub- #5524, digital photograph, February 2023

Last 23 pieces of music listened to by Wheatboi Dave in the studio, 21.01.2023, Mendham New Jersey.

01 Luke Eargoggle - Worship Services 

02 Gong - Eat that Phone book Coda

03 Boards of Canada - Open the Light 

04 Christian Marclay - Maria Callas 

05 Magma - Spiritual 

06 Rhys Chatham - A Crimson Grail: Part Two 

07 Laibach - Dig it 

08 Wendy Carlos - Brandenburg Concerto #1 in F, BWV 1046 - 4 Menuetto, Trio, Polonaise, Trio 

09 PexbaA - Poscoce 10 Der Plan - Zur Alte Dschunke 

11 Terry Riley - Music for the Gift (Part 2) 

12 Piano Magic - Crown Estate 

13 Art Bears - Three Wheels 

14 Rapoon - Raising Earthly Spirits (full album) 

15 Ranking Levy - Mad Man Style 

16 Ranking Dread - Marijuana in my Soul 

17 Randall Hero (John Oswald)- Rainbow 

18 Ramblin’ Thomas - Poor boy blues 

19 Ralph River Band - Strange Vibration 

20 Raic - The Intergalactic Church of Kirk 

21 Raheem Hershel (Legowelt) - Gotta have the Pokey (full album) 

22 Musica Elettronica Viva - Unified Patchwork Theory 

23 Ween - Pure Guava (full album)

Music List 001

 

David Stanley Aponte, Sub- #5523, spraypaint on printed paper, 2023

Last 23 pieces of music listened to by Wheatboi Dave in the CBM Studio as of 2.2.2023, Mendham New jersey

23 Bach: Kantate BWV 106 - 2. Coro. Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit

22 PSS 2099 - Zero

21 Conlon Nancarrow, Study for Player Piano No. 19

22 Poison Girls - Another Hero

21 The Residents - Please Please Please: Live At The Appolo

20 Terry Riley - Music for the Gift (part 1)

19 Last Exit - Hard School

18 South Pacific Island Music - Pan Pipes Rereo Taba

17 John Oswald - Pretender

16 The Residents - Lizard Lady

15 Rufus Harley - Pipin' the Blues

14 Einstürzende Neubauten - Silence Is Sexy (full album)

13 Ween - Tender Situation

12 Monolake & Robert Henke - Avalanche

11 Biota - Circling These

10 Psychic TV - I. C. Water

09 Conrad Schnitzler - Blau (full album)

08 AMM - Generative Theme V

07 Hüsker Dü - All This I've Done For You

06 Phuture - Slam

05 The Legendary Pink Dots - The Pleasure Palace

04 Henry Cow - Arcades

03 Ground Zero - Crossing Snow Mountains With Yamaha Bike

02 Joseph Bodin De Boismortier - Suite No. 3 In G Minor: Rondeau: Gravement

01 Handel: Concerto Grosso #3 In G, Op. 3/3, HWV 314 - 2. Allegro

01 Tappa Zukie - Judgement Dub

Music Odyssey

 

David Stanley Aponte, Sub- #4845 (Self Portrait), collage on paper, 2021

David Stanley Aponte’s musical odyssey has taken through the subaltern realms of four major cities.  Beginning as a teenager, Aponte honed his auditory prowess by maintaining one foot in the realm of deejaying and one foot in the realm of experimental music in Chicago, where he spent his formative years spinning records, creating beats, and founding the avant-garde music group MFM.  He then moved to Dallas, where the collaborative, experimental project of MFM took on new dimensions through collaborating with local musicians and delving into the underground clubs on the fringes of the city.  He also continued to explore techno, combining techno with the experiments conducted by MFM to produce tracks at Moontunes Industries in Dallas.  After further maturing as a musician, Aponte moved to Philadelphia to attend graduate school and receive his MFA.  While in Philadelphia, he continued to cultivate the experimental group MFM/FMF, while becoming acquainted with the underground scenes percolating the City of Brotherly Love.  In his post-graduate life, he moved to Berlin, which reaffirmed his investment in deejaying, as he started working intensively and extensively in the Berlin electronic and techno scene.  While continuing to cultivate a refined ear and sense of the sub-real, he polished his skills as a "Sub-real" DJ through the thriving club scene that makes Berlin a capital for musical exploration.  After two years in Berlin, Aponte has made his way back to Philadelphia, both to continue his work with MFM, but also to focus his energies on his activities as a DJ who spans and spins a diverse range of layered aural experiences from noise to minimalism, from electronic to psychedelic. His sets are not limited to forays into the subliminal sounds that pulse from his fingertips, but to an overall sensorial experience, including the visual and the physical, marking his work as a DJ not simply a matter of working with sound, but working with images, colors, and other sensations to create a transcendent, exhilarating environment for losing oneself in an ocean of sound waves.

- Dr. Malcolm K., Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 2015

David Stanley Aponte, Sub- #4011, Spray paint on art book, 2020

Sound Collages

 

David Stanley Aponte, Sub- #4844 (Remembering the Future II), collage on paper, 2021

I first explored and experimented sound in 1997 in Chicago, taking samples of waves of sound, tape loops, radio waves and field recordings to create an acousmatic sound pieces. These pieces would create an atmospheric space based the sounds created and the concept was based often on visual experience often inspired by artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, films such as “Man with a Movie Camera”, “Haxan”, or “Passion of Joan of Arc”. There certainly is an influence from contemporary composers such as John Cage, John Oswald, Pauline Oliveros, and Terry Riley but I see these pieces more in the realms of a visual art experience dealing with the 4th dimension of time and space. I also intend these “Sound Collages” initiate a “Sub-real” experience and atmosphere for the participant. 

-David Stanley Aponte (aka Wheatboi Dave), Collective Brand Movement Studio, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 2010

David Stanley Aponte, Sub- #4842 (Man & Superman, Act III), collage on paper, 2021