Why do people long for their childhood so much? I suppose I'm not wrong saying, that it's because they miss the times of not knowing certain stuff. The lawful ignorance, careless and jolly, makes the meeting with facts especially rough. You realize that knowledge is one of the things that sticks to you the more, the more you want to get rid of it. The awareness that there's now way back made me an existentialist and ridiculously serious kid at some point. One of these awkward moments were when I confronted with a unpleasant fact, was when I had a phase of inventing stuff. These weren't of course any hi-tech ideas, but I was quite proud of them. And each time I presented colorful scheme of some device, my father honestly informed, that though it is a smart and pretty thing, it has been done before. People already use it, the same or similar concept has been maintained for decades or even centuries. The bitter disappointment of those moments sometimes returns when I read or hear thoughts that I was sure were my own. When I was twelve I thought this is the perfect age. You are not a total kid any more, you are capable to understand some complex issues, but you are not yet a freaky teenager or grumpy grownup. I wished it would last for ever. It might have been the point when I knew enought to think that everything is comprehendible, but not enough to realize that there's a never ending space of the unknown that can make you feel dizzy and insecure. Then after years that eventually have past I've seen a document about Michel Gondry, called "I've been 12 forever". Shoot. Again. It wasn't so bad, as I like him a lot, so somehow I explained to myself that it's even fine that a real film director repeats your words. So following my private chronology I overcame the disappointment and started to explore the work of my age-buddy. I found out that he made most of the clips I adore, so our bond of sympathy had grown as that was a proof of his good taste. For instance, here's a result of his cooperation with Bjork:
Gondry made 7 clips for her- big respect.He reveals also other values of Being Twelve. He follows his surrealistic ideas, makes them live, doesn't care that something can't be done, he just does it. And each time I see his video I have the feeling that he actually had fun when he worked on it. The twelvish innocent hedonism - very rare, and how precious!
I love it, it's like dreaming. What would of course be an allusion to his full-length films, Oscar, fame, pride, prestige, and all the rest which I won't mention because this would evaluate to a Gondry-dedicated vlog, what it's not. Anyhow what could one accuse him of is that he sold himself to the commercial business somehow. He made loads of advertismemnts for the biggest companies. But I would fight for him, for me it's a good thing that Gondry actually makes something valuable for masses. For me it's more like a subliminal aesthetic education - very noble when you think about all the junk that's on tv. Just to present a drop from the ocean, here's on of his adds:
Well then. Frankly I don't feel bad about our redundant thought anymore. This didn't brake me, I keep on inventing, I've just moved to a more abstract register. And after all, I simply couldn't get cross with someone with a french accent.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
The Barney Body
The most spectacular video art performer I can think of is Matthew Barney. But it would be injurious to define him only with those two words. He is beyond one form, closer to Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk, the modern "enfant terrible", by some called the single revival of baroque. In this case one Barney would be enough to resurrect a whole epoch. The American Newsweek called him the representative of androgyny and new decadence. He is the only living artist who had a retrospective exhibition in the prestigious Guggenheim Museum Soho. He uses his body as instrument of creative act, exposing it to extreme conditions. Fighting with his weaknesses, straining the will enlocked in the Barney Body, he beats inconceivable limits and opposes matter.
What fascinates me the most is his best known Cremaster Cycle. This is a series of five films produced with amazing precision in a enormous scale. Though they can only be seen on screenings chosen by the author himself, usually in art galleries. There are very few copies of it and one limited edition of the third part which is possible to purchase. You can't actually say anything about the films, as they generate their own visual language through which Barney creates his mythology. There is no story whatsoever, it's more like watching someone's hallucinations, so disturbing and inspirating that you want the hours spent in front of the screen to last forever. Barney comments that through this cycle he is trying to find the space of freedom, place between form and its lack, catching the moment, in which reality isn't precisely defined yet.
To take a closer look on the Cremaster cycle, you can visit the official website or watch some fragments of the work, as few of them floating in the web. But it is harmfull for the piece, unless you have a huge white wall to screen it on. Here is the official trailer:
What fascinates me the most is his best known Cremaster Cycle. This is a series of five films produced with amazing precision in a enormous scale. Though they can only be seen on screenings chosen by the author himself, usually in art galleries. There are very few copies of it and one limited edition of the third part which is possible to purchase. You can't actually say anything about the films, as they generate their own visual language through which Barney creates his mythology. There is no story whatsoever, it's more like watching someone's hallucinations, so disturbing and inspirating that you want the hours spent in front of the screen to last forever. Barney comments that through this cycle he is trying to find the space of freedom, place between form and its lack, catching the moment, in which reality isn't precisely defined yet.
To take a closer look on the Cremaster cycle, you can visit the official website or watch some fragments of the work, as few of them floating in the web. But it is harmfull for the piece, unless you have a huge white wall to screen it on. Here is the official trailer:
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Manifesto vs. Motto
"reality is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't like to live there"
It's obvious there's no objective version. But since the 60's it's officially shameless to repeat. Since there is no novelty and yet nothing is coherent enough to believe in, anxiety and excitement accompanies every movement. It allows to FRee the Reality and FRy the Facts with impunity. Which I suppose this all mess would be about. The area on which one does it most openly is art. For practical reasons. We know what would happen if everybody dropped the common official paradigm. But lets not bother and enjoy this cozy field of freedom. And focus on something - let's say something visual. For instance, what is most genius about film, speaking in general terms, is that it gives the illusion of dipping into the artist's senses. Somehow it gives nearly physical access to his version of reality. Sounds like a surprisingly optimistic unity-technique of eye-to-eye interpretation. And when I think about it, I feel my eyes are more ME than my toes, or even ears. I'll drop that now. As order turns out to be handy sometimes, this is what I will stick to: any anti- or hyper-realistic and esthetic or interesting creation chosen with the help of my arbitrary taste present at the day of posting.
It's obvious there's no objective version. But since the 60's it's officially shameless to repeat. Since there is no novelty and yet nothing is coherent enough to believe in, anxiety and excitement accompanies every movement. It allows to FRee the Reality and FRy the Facts with impunity. Which I suppose this all mess would be about. The area on which one does it most openly is art. For practical reasons. We know what would happen if everybody dropped the common official paradigm. But lets not bother and enjoy this cozy field of freedom. And focus on something - let's say something visual. For instance, what is most genius about film, speaking in general terms, is that it gives the illusion of dipping into the artist's senses. Somehow it gives nearly physical access to his version of reality. Sounds like a surprisingly optimistic unity-technique of eye-to-eye interpretation. And when I think about it, I feel my eyes are more ME than my toes, or even ears. I'll drop that now. As order turns out to be handy sometimes, this is what I will stick to: any anti- or hyper-realistic and esthetic or interesting creation chosen with the help of my arbitrary taste present at the day of posting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
