(Untitled) - A movie review
by Marilyn Mitchell
(Untitled) is a new comedy that parodies contemporary art – especially the New York art scene. Jonathan Parker's view is at times painfully funny, at other times too realistic. It made me squirm with recognition. All contemporary art lovers will want to see this film. The story follows two competitive brothers, one who is a visual artist (Eion Bailey) and the other is a deadpan atonal music composer (Adam Goldberg). They form a love triangle with a beautiful gallery owner (Marley Shelton) that wants to only show 'important' emerging artists.
The musician's music was composed by David Lang, and it is a hoot. He drops a metal chain into a bucket and kicks it with gusto to create some of the 'music'. At a concert in the movie, the theater is almost empty while Adam Goldberg and his two accomplices plunk, bang and squeak their performance to life. The ironic twist on it was that (Untitled) played on a Saturday night to a similarly sparse audience here in San Diego.
The 'important' artists portrayed in the movie make art from taxidermied animals (think Damien Hirst), a bare light bulb going on & off (the Turner Prize) or make wall labels for banal objects such as a push pin. The pretentiousness of the art world is battered about with glee.
The most crucial aspect of the film, though, is that it raised tough questions. Who decides who is an 'important' artist? How does anyone decide if the art is any good? What does it mean to be a successful artist? (Untitled) is filled with memorable performances and some very funny lines. It attempts to expose the art world as a bit of a sham, which is no surprise. What (Untitled) did not do, though, is show us what 'important' visual art is today.
The movie made me want to see an art world with more transparency and higher standards of integrity. The fact that well known critics buy art and then write raving reviews to increase the value of their own collections doesn't make anyone bat an eye. The fact that artists routinely have nothing what-so-ever to do with the creation of their works is a completely accepted mode of creation; actually a celebrated mode of creation. The fact that collectors buy museum space to promote their own collections in order to increase their value is also accepted without any qualms. When a movie attempts to make fun of a world where a few are given 'god-like' status, despite their apparent immaturity and their shallow ideas, it makes me cringe. Sure, it's all 'subjective' but maybe there needs to be more discussion about the art world as it really is – since it is not pretty.
Comments
And now for some 'real-life' examples:
Pascal Bernier - Belgian artist and Tijuana artist Daniel Ruanova.
Posted by: Kevin Freitas | novembre 19, 2009 11:15 AM