DL: I go in the chat room pretty often. I think there's probably a fairly small percentage that like to chat, but of those that chat, they are a great bunch. And the membership is enthusiastic. They are smart, and not all of them really know cinema so much, but most of them do. A lot of them are filmmakers themselves or studying film, but they are a hip, great bunch. And a lot of them have made friends through the site and they get together and they talk about this, that and the other thing.
PB: One aspect of your work is its intentional vagueness....
DL: No, it's not intentional. That's the wrong thing. I have always said that there are abstractions in life and every single day we experience these things and we have a beautiful facility called intuition to make sense of these things. And cinema and all kinds of things kick it in to one degree or another. But anybody who is intentionally vague is a troublemaker. You get ideas and you stay true to those, and ideas that I happen to love hold abstractions. Every emotion is an abstraction. Every piece of music is an abstraction. Each viewer is different. I always say, everyone who goes up and stands in front of an abstract painting is getting a different thing. And it makes a circle -- the painting into the mind back to the painting, and a thing starts happening. But it's different for each viewer. The painting stays the same.
PB: Do you think the Internet naturally lends itself to abstraction?
DL: Every medium can hold abstractions, and the Internet, like I said, is freedom. It gives people opportunities to express themselves and a place to put their work. So it's for straight-ahead things, totally abstract things, absurd things. All sorts of things have a home on the Internet.
PB: As a user, when did you first become aware of the Internet?
DL: Eric and some of his friends used to tell me that I should get on the Internet. In those days, the best you could do was still pictures and writing, and that didn't seem too exciting. But I remember one day Eric said, things can move now. And then that was the end of it. We had to do something, and we geared up and did it.
PB: What are some of your favorite Internet sites?
DL: I don't go on the web. I don't have time to. But I like to build things for the site.
PB: What is your personal time commitment to the site?
DL: 24/7. [Laughs]
PB: In any way will your site ever replace theatrical exhibition?
DL: Things are always changing -- there's IMAX, 35 millimeter, television and the Internet. The good thing about the Internet is that it's gotten so much attention from the tech side that it's going to be like television, with bigger screens, and almost like film. And you can squirt information on a big screen right now off the Internet, but the quality is not so great. But it's got this potential for something really big.
PB: So you can envision launching a lengthy piece of programming online in the future?
DL: Sure. Almost tomorrow.
PB: What can you do online that you can't anywhere else?
DL: You can go to short film festivals, but there is no home for short pieces. There is also no real home for still photography, except for a gallery that maybe 50 people can see. And the Internet is a gallery for anybody in the world to go and look at. And once the quality kicks in a little bit more, it's going to be spectacular.
PB: What have you discovered does not work well online?
DL: The only obstacle is the technical side.
PB: Have there been things you have put up that ended up not looking or feeling right?
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