Commingled Containers is an experimental

Experimental film

Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...

 short film by Stan Brakhage

Stan Brakhage

James Stanley Brakhage , better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American non-narrative filmmaker who is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th century experimental film....

, produced in 1997.

Production

In the several years preceding 1997, Brakhage had, for financial reasons, moved away from photography and produced most of his work by painting directly onto celluloid. In 1997, Brakhage was diagnosed with bladder cancer

Bladder cancer

Bladder cancer is any of several types of malignant growths of the urinary bladder. It is a disease in which abnormal cells multiply without control in the bladder. The bladder is a hollow, muscular organ that stores urine; it is located in the pelvis...

. Just prior to exploratory surgery

Exploratory surgery

Exploratory surgery is a diagnostic method used by doctors when trying to find a diagnosis for an ailment. It can be performed in both humans and animals, but it is far more common in animals...

, Brakhage purchased a Bolex

Bolex

Bolex is a Swiss company that manufactures motion picture cameras and lenses, the most notable products of which are in the 16 mm and Super 16 mm formats. The Bolex company was initially founded by Jacques Bogopolsky in 1927. Bolex is derived from his name. He had previously designed cameras for...

 camera, which he used to produce Commingled Containers, described as a "last testament" of sorts. He immersed his camera into the waters of Boulder Creek, Colorado

Boulder Creek (Colorado)

Boulder Creek is a creek draining the Rocky Mountains to the west of Boulder, Colorado, as well as the city itself and surrounding plains.- Route :...

to capture the patterns created by the friction between water and rock.

Reception

Commingled Containers is often interpreted in light of Brakhage's health problems at the time, and is considered to represent the director's own spiritual quest. Scott MacDonald describes the film as "a talisman that expresses Brakhage’s determination to continue his spiritual quest and to offer viewers something of Light, despite his fear of mortality, for as long as it was given to him to remain in the flow of life." R. Bruce Elder wrote that Commingled Containers, unlike most of Brakhage's work, "remains a nearly organic (or biomorphic) abstraction across its entire length."