In my junior or senior year I formulated this motto:  I want to turn my life into a work of art.  What I had in mind was something like this: Rather than turning out work that could be construed as art I wanted to make sure that my life as a whole was esthetically compelling. Given the gifts and option available to me, I wanted to mold my life into something could compete with what is widely considered a compelling work of art. Jonathan Caouette, in his stunning autobiographical documentary Tarnation, turns his life into a work of spectacular art. But watching the film I realized that when I hatched my plan I conceived it as way to live forward. Caouette looks backward at age 30 and tries to make sense of his strange family life by construction an autobiography using only photos, super 8, answering machine messages, and video snippets that he collected since he was eleven years old.

Caloutte takes the material of his difficult life and molds its on his iMac for $218 into a path breaking documentary film that is so beautiful that the hardship he experienced becomes tolerable and meaningful. I am blown away and deeply inspired by what he has achieved.