Theresa Duncan was 40….A Talent Removed

Much is being written about the suicide of multi-talented Venice filmmaker, writer, and blogger, Theresa Duncan, who killed herself in New York on July 10, followed by the probable suicide of her longtime boyfriend, rising-star artist Jeremy Blake, 35. The police mention pills and a long explanatory note in relation to Duncan’s death. As for Blake, it seems that a week after finding his lover’s body at the NY apartment they were renting while she worked on a promising-sounding new film, the artist simply took off his clothes, set down his wallet, and walked into the sea.

He too left a note—-saying he couldn’t imagine living without her.

Kevin Roderick at LA Observed has been particularly on top of the story.

I didn’t know Duncan; only knew of her. But it cannot be other than terribly confusing, disturbing and sorrow-producing when two people as gifted—and as physically beautiful, frankly— as Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake decide to precipitously and irrevocably remove themselves from this world.

You can find news stories here and here and here.

But, for me anyway, a better way to apprehend at least a sliver of the creative loss that has occurred is to take a look at these witty and wonderful videos produced by Duncan. I found them posted on YouTube.

They are from her “Closet Cases” series.

NOTE: FOR SOME REASON I’m having trouble with video embeds today, so I’ve taken them out. Instead here are the links to the two videos. The first is Closet Cases: Slice" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> of Bread

The second is called Closet Cases: The Dred Case

(I particularly loved the first.)

Post Script:

The New York Post story quotes a friend of the couple, who explains how out-of-character the suicides seemed for both Duncan and Blake.

“Suicide would never be on their to-do list,” he said.