Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

The dreary weather gave me a chance to see a film I've wanted to catch for a long time: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist who has been pretty outspoken about the human rights abuses in China, one notable example being his work to uncover the shoddy school construction that led to many deaths from the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.  He also worked on the famous Bird's Nest stadium for the Olympics (which he later boycotted) and installed an exhibit at the Tate using one hundred million hand-painted sunflower seeds (yes, thats One Hundred.  Million.)

Not surprisingly, he was detained by the Chinese government for three months on charges of 'tax evasion'.  I've depicted him in a couple of my works: both 'The Others' in the E Pluibus Unum show and as part of an installation highlighting imprisoned artists.

The trailer from YouTube:

It you're on the east coast, you can see his work in person at the Hirshorn.

Radio West recently interviewed the filmmmaker as well.

http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/home/#collection=ai-weiwei-according-to-what

http://radiowest.kuer.org/post/ai-weiweis-art-dissent

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/11/tate-modern-sunflower-seeds-review
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_schools_corruption_scandal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dtfeh6a01c
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1845773/

EAMES: The Architect and The Painter

Just saw EAMES: The Architect and Painter as part of this year's SLC Design Week.  It was a fantastic overview of the careers of the husband/wife design team Charles and Ray Eames.  (not familiar with them?  Pronounce it like 'Teams' and think bent plywood mid-century modern chairs).

They were incredibly prolific, not only with furniture design but architecture, medical splints, movies, photography, and exhibits on topics ranging from Thomas Jefferson to mathematics.

One of my favorite quotes:

“I’m a little taken aback by anyone calling himself an artist because of my feeling that that’s the kind of designation that other people should give. You can be an artist in any field, but getting a degree to call yourself an artist would be like getting a diploma to call yourself a genius."  -- Charles Eames

Great Basin Table installed

Great Basin Table, 17" x 41" x 21", 2012.  Steel and plywood.

I had a great trip out the Great Basin National Park to install a piece, give a couple presentations on my work, and help out with the filming of a new documentary on the Park being done by North Shore Productions.

The table was inspired by several of my experiences during my residency there; most notably the idea that there are several visual geometries acting in the Park, sometimes in cohesion and sometimes conflicting with one another.  There are human-made as well as natural and organic shapes and the interplay between them is fascinating.  This of course, is no new revelation (William Fox describes it as 'one of the oldest dichotomies in history, the tension between the organic shape of the natural world and the mathematical grid').

Great Basin Table  at the lower Park visitor center in Baker, NV

I was specifically interested in the shapes we make on the land that are unintended yet beautiful anyway, and the relationship between mathematical forms that at first glance appear as human constructs but show up outside of our influence.

The base of the table is inspired by a specific Bristlecone Pine found high on a ridge of Mt. Washington in the southern end of the Park, and the right-angled forms are placed using the Golden Ratio, a mathematical relationship that describes natural geometries ranging from the curve of the human ear to the spiral of galaxies.  The top is a rough map of Baker, NV, showing dirt roads and the irrigation pivots as seen from satellite imagery.  Baker is the closest town to Great Basin National Park and home to many of the Park employees and caretakers of the Great Basin and its travelers.

table top detail showing satellite imagery-inspired carving

Satellite image of Baker, NV

Golden Ratio

Bristlecone Pine that inspired the table base

Film crew in the sculpture studio

Filming in the Park

Hiking camera equipment up to the Bristlecone grove

Table prepped for filming

Art Film

Usually when I hear someone say "Oh, you should see this, its an ART FILM" I turn and run in the other direction -- I only have so many heartbeats in this life and I really don't like spending any of them confused or frightened, which usually happens to me at things like Sundance showings.

The following are films ABOUT art that I've found really inspiring in the last year or so, and thought you might too.


Herb & Dorothy

This is a documentary about this couple who collects art in New York, and not just any art.  They've found incredibly influential artists like Sol LeWitt, Chuck Close, and Roy Lichtenstein before they were 'discovered' by the mainstream.  Since then they've donated 2,500 of their collected works to museums in all 50 states.  Oh, and they collected all of this work on a postman and librarian's salary.


Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Tonybee Tiles

This is another documentary about these guys who find mysterious tile-like graffiti around their city and decide to investigate its message and author, Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine style.  It's a fun look into how folks can be joyous and rewarded in the midst of their freakish obsessions.


It Might Get Loud

Ok, so this film is also a documentary, and its not exactly about visual art but music (if that concerns you, having navigated here to hear about purely visual art, then go finish re-organizing your dictionary collection and leave the rest of us be).  Jack White, Jimmy Page, and the Edge are all featured and examined in light of their different approaches to the same instrument: the guitar.  The part that sold me was the opening scene where Jack White (rapscallion that he is) makes one out of a coke bottle and nails and stuff.  Upcycling/found art at its best:

(also check out the great film on A Tribe Called Quest if you like this kind of thing)

Exit Through the Gift Shop

From IMDB:


The story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. The film contains footage of Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and many of the world's most infamous graffiti artists at work. 






What if this film isn’t a documentary?  I tend to fall on the side of those who believe the character Mr. Brainwash (although he actually exists, and his shows actually happened) was a creation for the film, Spinal-Tap style. 


What would be a better way to comment on the ridiculousness that is the modern art scene than to fabricate an artist?  Banksy has done this sort of performance/art before, specifically placing fake (and in my opinion more engaging) art in famous museums alongside the legitimate works on display.


Mr. Brainwash’s art is so redundant of other famous modern artists’ work (Warhol, Basquiat, Fairey, and Banksy himself) that to create him as a legitimate artist with a body of work, shows, and actual sales is the ultimate prank on the contemporary art establishment and its love affair with street art.


I’m not the first person to have this opinion, but I think it does make the film much more interesting.  Too bad it narrowly missed an Oscar for  Best Documentary.