Director: Stephen Varble
Varble spent the last five years of his life working on an epic, unfinished performance-turned-video titled Journey to the Sun (1978-1983). Only partially complete and under constant revision, this complex work combined Varble’s history of making costumes for performances, with his fantastic stories involving metamorphosis and martyrdom. In 1982, Varble decided to make a “prelude” to Journey to the Sun, combining existing footage with new video taken in Riverside Park in New York City. This self-contained video differs greatly from the bulk of Journey to the Sun, in that it is not constructed around the main narrative, but rather is composed of prefatory remarks and extended footage of outdoor scenes, and contains no dialogue. The main aim of this prelude was to provide a key to some of the main sources for Varble’s thought — actress Greta Garbo, spiritual leader George Gurdjieff, and founder of the Subud movement Muhammad "Pak" Subuh.