THIS LONG CENTURY - A Decade of Insights

THIS LONG CENTURY is an ever-evolving collection of personal insights from artists, authors, filmmakers, musicians and cultural icons the world over. Bringing together such intimate work as sketchbooks, personal memorabilia, annotated typescripts, short essays, home movies and near impossible to find archival work, THIS LONG CENTURY serves as a direct line to the contributors themselves. 

2018 marked a decade of THIS LONG CENTURY. An epic ten years, with 380 unique and personal contributions from significant creative producers in a multitude of disciplines and places. TLC is a  low key affair with no ads, no grants, or fundraisers. Word of mouth keeps it going.

You can go to the THIS LONG CENTURY site HERE. And you can follow THIS LONG CENTURY on Instagram HERE.

Contributor No 2 - Collier Schorr

— I was talking to a friend about a scene in Full Metal Jacket and he said “that is my favourite war movie”. Later, I thought, what does that mean? What does a favourite war movie satisfy? What makes it so desirable? All narrative cinema pivots on the transformation of a protagonist and so most war movies satisfy this requirement in spades. From An Officer and a Gentleman to Platoon, the young soldier is transformed into a man, either ruined by brutality or recused by structure, there is a simple pleasure in watching someone (other than oneself) abused into a potential killing machine. 

Contributor No 31 - Hellen Van Meene

And as to being in a fright,
Allow me to remark
That Ghosts have just as good a right
In every way, to fear the light,
As Men to fear the dark.
“Phantasmagoria,” Lewis Carrol

Contributor No 105 - John Gossage

This post is in the hope that the dead finally have decent internet access.
FOR WALTER HOPPS, who taught me so much.

Contributor No 150 - Robert Breer

— A short while ago, my son-law Vhannes Koujanian and my daughter Sophie came to visit us on a too rare occasion. Early in their visit I was telling Vhannes about my habit over many years of getting up early to avoid the morning rush hour on my way to teach at Cooper Union in New York and about getting dressed in the dark to avoid waking up my wife Kate. I bragged that in fact, though long retired, I still do get dressed before sun-up!
He said “I KNOW!”
Surprised, I said “HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?”
He said “LOOK AT YOUR SHOES!”

I looked down and saw that I was wearing two distinctly different shoes!

Contributor No 160 - Saul Leiter

— I am very fond of my sketchbooks that I began in the 50s and still work on today. I think there is a certain freedom when you are absorbed in painting a sketchbook. You are not burdened to do something important. You are not dealing in big things. You are just thinking and the sketchbooks are a way to express your thinking. They are very intimate. I work on my sketchbooks almost every day. If I had to choose what I value the most in my work I might choose my sketchbooks. Here are two of my favorite sketchbooks. There are four here which are just covers titled, My Father and I. The other is Sketchbook #1 which I hope to publish as a book one day. Some of my sketchbooks will be on display at my show at the Deichtorhallen House of Photography, Hamburg in February 2012.