Burroughs Bacon

 

Uncut footage that was not used in the Channel 4 Arena documentary about William S. Burroughs from 1982. William visits Francis Bacon in his home studio in London. They drink tea and have an interesting conversation about art and Tangier. There is a lot of name dropping - asking if such and such a person is still alive, or "did you know" so and so.

At the about 30 minute mark Burroughs elucidates on some of his ideas about immortality and the escape from the body. He references Mayan and Egyptian ideas on the subject and talks a bit about physics.

Burroughs was originally made in 1983 by Howard Brookner and Alan Yentob, as part of the BBC’s art strand Arena, and repeated after Burrough’s death in 1997. It is an exceptional documentary, one that gives an intimate and revealing portrait of Burroughs, as he revisits his childhood home; discusses his up-bringing with his brother, Mortimer; his friendship with Jack Kerouac, Allen Gisnberg, and Brion Gysin; and has a reunion with artist Francis Bacon, who Burroughs knew in Tangier. Other contributors include Terry Southern, Patti Smith, and James Grauerholz.