List of a list of a list
Since May 2013, I’ve kept a spreadsheet of every film I’ve watched. The list acts as a personal archive of films I've consumed and helps me remember the films I’ve worked my way through over the past decade. I’ve always been surrounded by film fanatics who wax lyrical about them with a knowledge that seemed, to me, unachievable but that I desperately wish I had. The spreadsheet gave me a chance to quickly review what I’d seen, gather my thoughts quickly and provided me with a small step in trying to join those conversations.
My film spreadsheet lists about 900 films, about 1500-1800 hours worth, which covers a fairly wide spectrum of countries, genre, length and even where I watched the film. This is just the ones I’ve managed to log. With this being a personal archive, it contains some huge gaps, whole years at times. When I match up those time periods with life events they are quite telling about where I was headspace wise. Matching up relationships starting and how badly they ended, being stuck in jobs I hated and when I actually got happy - all mapped out in my film intake. Sifting through the list I can quickly survey the level of escapism required at a certain moment - whole weeks on end I quite obviously stayed in every night devouring films, a sharp intake of sad films and weeks where I spent my annual leave at film festivals all help paint a sometimes ugly, sometimes messy and sometimes happy diary.
Making a list is vital to me. I can’t concentrate on one project without having a mountainous list of tasks to help shape my next decision. In fact, the Trasho Biblio Library all started with a list. For YEARS I’ve been keeping a running spreadsheet of books recommended by John Waters - compiled from interviews, his books and even taking a magnifying glass to every photograph from his home in the hope of finding a rare gem. The list inspired an obsession to collect every title and I’ve been leveraging the power of this small lending library to help complete this near impossible task. The Pope of Trash himself has been known to share a list or two with us - one of this legend’s book lists can be found here
John Waters in Vogue Italia - Pic by Ethan James Green
JW isn’t the only author I’ve kept a list of over the years. After devouring every book by Carson McCullers over a few months, I desperately wanted more and decided to focus on the authors and talented people in her orbit. A big part of this list is generated from those she shared living quarters with at February House - a Brooklyn artists commune in the early 40s. Flatmates of McCullers included Jane and Paul Bowles, W.H. Auden and Gypsy Rose Lee. Plenty of others passed through the commune doors for parties or short stays who also made the book list, such as Anaïs Nin, Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann and Dali. As the branches around McCullers grew, I now have a healthy list of writers to work my way though.
Recently, I came across another dream book list in Re/Search Publication: Industrial Culture Handbook. After a lengthy interview with Throbbing Gristle, Genesis P-Orridge provides a 150+ long book list that cover a range of predictably incredible titles including:
Drums, Tom Toms and Rattles by B S Mason - A deep dive on the percussion instruments of Native Americans
The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker - A long-form essay on how the human condition leads us to completely ignore our impending death.
Swingin Dors by Diana Dors - Autobiography from the UK’s answer to Marylin Monroe
A Crystal Age by WH Hudson - A dystopian Sci-Fi novel written in 1887!
To see the full list you should grab the full publication here
These are just a few of the lists I have stored away online. This obsession with the list sees me start a new one pretty much every week, with a new purpose to either bring some order to a messy brain, log what I love or to inspire. Thank you for reading my ode to the power of a list.