But, Mekas also appears in the film to give his explanation of events.
The documentary is basically narrated by Smith from recordings made before his death, so we get his full perspective on Mekas - and it’s not a pretty one. While The Destruction of Atlantis amply gets into the Mekas controversy, Jordan smartly doesn’t pick a side. Was Mekas a villain out to just make a name for himself - Flaming Creatures was deemed officially obscene and Mekas was arrested several times for screening it - as Smith contended? Or was Mekas merely saving an important cultural artifact and challenging the obscenity laws to eventually give other artists more freedom from censorship? Irate after underground film promoter Jonas Mekas removed the film from the filmmaker’s possession so that it could be screened across the country and overseas, Smith would never make another film he considered “completed” ever again lest somebody else steal his work. Looking at Smith’s career from an outsider’s perspective, the great tragedy appears to be that his most famous achievement, the groundbreaking 1963 underground film classic Flaming Creatures, prevented him from creating other popular works to be enjoyed by the masses. (He died in 1989 from AIDS-related pneumonia.) Despite what Jack may have wanted, it’s a good thing director Mary Jordan did indeed make this film. This is a film that could only be made after Smith’s death. The documentary portrait, Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis, shines a spotlight on the artist that, one has to interpret, he never would have wanted.
Yet, Smith was so creative and unique, to let his work pass into history without a wider cultural appraisal and appreciation seems like a crime. If one wanted to experience Smith’s art, which combined painting, performance, film and photography, one would have to visit him personally and interact with it on his terms only.
During his career as an artist, he considered his life his art and fiercely fought any attempts by people to collect and display any work that came as a result of that life.