The city looks different when it's sunburnt. It's all squinted and brow-down. Doubtful that any heat is good heat. The swollen sidewalks are all rippling, like dream muscles. Sweating like it's making up for lost time. And the people? There are no people anymore. The whole city's under arrest. [Free!]
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Henry Joost sent me his new short film that he made with Ariel Schulman. It's jaw-dropping what these men have done, and continue to do, for the form of the short documentary. They are truly masters of it.
(photo of the day two hundred thousand people marched in Montreal by Phil M)
Posted by Dan at May 23, 2012 8:00 PMI had never heard of John Baldessari but that was an amazing short film.
Posted by John Clements at May 23, 2012 8:23 PMIt was a very entertaining documentary, but it mostly told the viewer what to think through narration. Through interviews with John Baldessari (and others), through watching him work, etc., I would have gotten more insight into John Baldessari, and I would have been able to draw my own portrait of him.
Posted by Kurt at May 24, 2012 9:08 AMHey Kurt, this is an interesting idea you're bringing up.
In my experience of the aesthetic of the film, it felt like it was meant to evoke the same emotions and sensations as a piece of art by John Baldessari.
Baldessari's work is clearly frontal, declarative, simple and yet totally multi-faceted. I think the filmmakers achieve this, and address your issue of being told what to think, in moments like "John Baldessari once said "x"" and then when it cuts back to Baldessari he says "I may have said that." Suddenly, the leading quality you're talking about is exposed as fallible, and suddenly I'm engaged, as you describe, in drawing my own portrait.
Posted by dan at May 24, 2012 1:40 PMGood points, Dan. And in the end, it is very entertaining.
Posted by Kurt at May 29, 2012 11:32 AMJohn Baldessari studied at San Diego State College, U.C. Berkeley, UCLA, the Otis Art Institute, and the Chouinard Art Institute. Baldessari received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2000 from the Otis Art Institute,
Posted by sdeagie at June 13, 2012 5:23 AM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
