“This story bristles with ideas and intelligence, and the more you stick with it, the more complicated it gets.”

—Andrew O’ Hehir

“I can’t say that I understand everything Kiarostami has to tell me about life, art, romance, and tradition,…at least not consciously, but I know I feel haunted, elated, enriched by his wily and impassioned view of relationships as bodies in constant flux, of disagreement and individuality, and of the transformative power of a simple, sincerely felt timeout in a moment of bitter crisis…”

—Ed Gonzalez

We have set the next film night for Friday the 10th of February (7:00 PM). As always seating is limited so please do RSVP.

Certified Copy was directed by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami and starring William Shimell and the ever enchanting Juliette Binoche, this film examines, indeed celebrates the ideas of originality in art and in life. It gleefully explores life and love and challenges our ideas of perception. It is a film that works on many levels: as an intellectual discussion about art, as an exuberant embrace of love past and present, and as a subtle mystery. Think of it as the contemplative cousin of the Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise / Before Sunset duology drenched in ennui and basking in the Tuscan countryside. I encourage any who are interested in joining us to avoid any and all articles or discussion regarding the subject matter. You will be best served to experience the film without any prior knowledge of its plot and machinations. We are very excited to hear what you all have to bring to the table as we discuss this gem of a film.

For more details or to RSVP contact: cinemaseries@continuumarts.com.

PressPausePlay from House of Radon on Vimeo.

A powerful movie asking important questions about the digitization and democratization of art.

Art is always in need of patrons, but I don’t know many Medici’s amongst us. They are around, but most of us can’t commission works of art on our own. Instead we have the opportunity to be micro-patrons. We can all give a little something to artists to help realize the creation of quality art. We do this in some respects when we buy a CD or a movie ticket. Why not do it and get a production credit, as well?

The cast and crew of “The City Gardner” are trying to raise $1000 to produce this film. Sounds pretty reasonable to me. It’s a pretty slender budget for a film of any length; in other words, it doesn’t seem like their planning to use the money for a large cast party (with Cristal prices around $200/750ml it would be a small party indeed). They are currently $620 from being fully funded. That means you can give $620, and be a hero, or just $1, and be no less of a hero for it. But mostly you’ll know that you have contributed to something worthwhile—a movie about “hope and the peace of redemption”. Who knows, if you give enough the Medici’s may just adopt you, and that would be pretty sweet!

To give you can go to their Kickstarter project, which can be found here: “The City Gardner”.

“This movie is a masterful evocation of time, place, character, moral choices, immoral certainties, human nature and fate. ”
—Roger Ebert

“…a dour depiction of unreasonable, unstoppable evil…”
—Walter Chaw

“Spiritual but not religious, the Coens are Stanley Kubrick-style secular theologians. Their awe of the unknown is comprised of equal parts humility and philosophical-scientific curiosity. ”
—Matt Zoller Seitz

This adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s story of the same name is universally lauded a masterpiece. Set in the dry Southwest, this is a stripped-down crime drama from the Coen brothers, reminiscent of their 1984 movie Blood Simple. Bleak for sure, the story explores themes of biblical proportion like free-will, predestination, human-nature, morality, unrelenting evil and human frailty to name a few. Continuum Fellow, Gardner Mounce, will lead the discussion afterward. Seating is limited, so please RSVP. Friday, August 26, 2011. 7:00 PM.

This morning I ran across confirmation: a short documentary about mannequins, 34X25X36. One of the interviewees says in it:

[Mannequins are a type of] religious art. What the churches did was make figures out of wood or paper maiche, and they were trying to replicate for the people what they envisioned these saints were supposed to look like, like we replicate what the perfect girl is…Because if you really start to look at it, it is a continuation of the same thing. I can see where it could be believing in something or worshiping something because it is something that you aim for.

The whole thing is sobering. It reminds me that there is little innocent, though there is much which asks of me to think it so. Watch the whole thing below. Then be on guard.

Is anyone else as excited to see this as I am? I’m pretty sure this will be breathtaking to watch. I first heard about it from NPR:

In 1994, three French cave explorers discovered hundreds of prehistoric paintings and engravings on the walls of the Chauvet Cave in southern France.

Carbon dating has since shown that the depictions of rhinoceroses, lions, cave bears, horses, bison, mammoths and other animals are between 30,000 and 32,000 years old.

That doesn’t mean the ancient drawings are any less sophisticated than what artists create today, says filmmaker Werner Herzog.

“Art … as it bursts on the scene 32,000 years ago, is fully accomplished. It doesn’t start with ‘primitive scribblings’ and first attempts like children would make drawings,” Herzog says. “It’s absolutely and fully accomplished.”

The acclaimed German director, who has produced, written and directed more than 40 films, gained exclusive access to the Chauvet caves. He tells their story and the story of the world’s oldest cave paintings in The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, a 3-D documentary film.

Why 3D you ask?

“When I saw photos, it looked almost like flat walls — maybe slightly undulating or so. Thank God, I went in there without any camera a month before shooting. What you see in there is limestone, and you have these wildly undulating walls — you have bulges and niches and pendants of rock, and there’s a real incredible drama of information. The artists utilized it for their paintings. … So it was clear it was imperative to do this in 3-D, in particular, because we were the only ones ever allowed to film.”

Bravo Bill Paxton! Fantastic movie that sparked a lot of good discussion on faith, belief and perception. Honestly, it is a movie that should challenge any and everyone regardless of their faith stance. Hear the audio of the discussion lead by Continuum Fellow, Charlie Forester.

One of the biggest questions surrounding Exit Through the Gift Shop is whether the movie is fact or fiction. Did Banksy stage the whole affair to make a statement about the commercialization of street art, or is the monster born out of Thierry Guetta real? It makes sense to let the movie have its cake and eat it too, because whether it is real or not, both sides of the argument make for compelling discussion. The fact that Thierry never truly understood the meaning behind what street artists (or any artists for that matter) are doing speaks volumes for either side of the coin.

When looking at street art, or even Thierry’s art, it seems as if the making of the art is more important than the art itself. After all, the function of street art looks to be self-promotion. By posting something repeatedly (whether it be the street artist’s style or repeating their logo), the street artist is able to make a name for themselves. An artist wants to be recognized, but in the case of street art, we can ask if posting something repeatedly is a form of artistic expression. To take this even further, is it still art if you destroy property to get yourself out there? Once you begin to vandalize buildings, art begins to lose its rules. Of course, the argument can be made about whether or not graffiti can even be considered an art form, especially since the law is broken to bring it to life.

Bansky makes a defense for street art by saying that spending money does not make good art. This is shown by the simplicity of the materials needed to create street art compared with the money and resources sunk into putting together Thierry’s pieces. While Bansky wants to send an individual message each time he marks up a wall, Thierry (or Mr. Brainwash, which is the name he gives himself as an artist), only cares about the money. Each artist wants to make an impression, but the intention behind it is completely different.

Mr. Brainwash is really trying to do just that by turning himself into some sort of a cultural icon, which opens up the question about whether or not these sorts of icons (which includes their creations) can be labeled as art. A perfect example is the golden arches. They were obviously designed by an artist, but when you look at the message, it’s all about triggering a particular response. When we see those arches, the first thing that should come to mind is a hamburger, meaning that the intention behind this icon is business, not artistic. If this is the case, we can begin to question whether or not it is fair to call marketing a form of art, especially considering the purpose is to coax people into buying things they don’t need. Sure, the artist had to be creative to come up with the marketing design, but that does not necessarily mean it is art. The simplest question we can ask after pondering on this is, what is the true role of an artist? Is it, as marketing would suggest, about having power over others?

A genuine piece of art will provide excellence and be relevant as time progresses. In the case of Exit Through the Gift Shop, we have to wonder if street art is still going to be worth discussing in 200 years. Yes, it may still be on the wall, but will anyone care? The answer lies in that art always fits into tradition. There’s no concrete way of knowing how long a piece of art must exist before it becomes tradition, so the best approach for the artist to take is to create art they hope will last forever. In other words, it needs to be able to go across generational lines. In regards to this last statement, how long the art lasts might not necessarily do with time, but the audience.

Before you can fairly create a piece of art (and call yourself an artist) or even judge a piece of art, it is essential that you study the history of art. It is the responsibility of the critic (at least a worthy critic) to lead others to study and discover art. Even if you disagree with the critic, it will help you explore a variety of different critics until you find one who fits your taste. That way, you will attain the proper guidance and knowledge of art. The kind of critic best searched for is the one who teaches as opposed to “critiquing.” Anyone can be a critic and try to understand what art is, but they need experience to really identify art and point others in the right direction. Is it safe to say Banksy is a critic of Mr. Brainwash? Could we say that with Exit Through the Gift Shop, Banksy has made the artist the subject (and criticism) of the art?

Once we begin to gain an understanding of art, we can begin to connect to it and it has the ability to unite us with others. That is part of the beauty of it…art is Universal. As we discuss and share art, we can then go deeper and ask ourselves about the nature of Truth. What is it, and can we know it, inside and out? Anyone is welcome to be a patron of the arts, but a decision we must make is what kind of art we will choose to patronize. If we begin to collect, do we do so because of popularity or because of appreciation? Look at Mr. Brainwash’s art show as a good overview in trying to distinguish the difference between the two. Why are all these people interested in what he has to offer? If you scan the paintings on display at his show, you can ask if he is an artist, or simply a creative organizer. And when you spot the similarities in what he is doing to famous art of the past, it begs us to ask if on some level, all art is derivative. It may not be true in the case of Mr. Brainwash, but it can be said that even if you did not create a particular genre, you are still able to try and perfect it. This goes back to the tradition of art, which includes repeating those traditions instead of creating something new.

In moving from street art (Banksy) to paintings (Mr. Brainwash), the question arises as to how long you can discuss one as opposed to the other. Can the same kind of discussion be had about a piece of street art? Can we find the same depth that we can in a painting? This question leads us to think about what drives a street artist to create in the first place. For that matter, what makes any artist feel the need to create? Whose glory is it for? Even if we as the patron are not able to answer these questions, art is able to challenge us to not only ask these questions, but also to discuss them. Even if we can’t find the truth, we can expand our understanding of art trying to get there. Exit Through the Gift Shop is a movie that is able to interestingly and entertainingly coax us to think about the nature and purpose of art. When put this way, we can say that the movie itself is a piece of art, as it follows what we know about the tradition of art. Like any good art, it can be studied for generations to come, as more and more people attempt, just as we have, to understand and appreciate what art (in all its beauty and diversity) truly is.

The above article was written in response to a discussion of the film Exit Through the Gift Shop, which can be listened to in its entirety here: A Discussion following “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. Exit Through the Gift Shop and the discussion are part of the Continuum Cinema Series. Lee Chase is a friend of The Continuum and a film critic. He has reviewed hundreds of films for various websites and audiences. His film analysis can be found at http://hellandbeyond-lee.blogspot.com/

“A perfect, thinking man’s fear film.” —Lucius Gore

“By the end, you will have learned as much, if not more, about your world-view as you learn about these characters…” —Killer Movie Reviews

“‘Frailty’ is an extraordinary work, concealing in its depths not only unexpected story turns but also implications, hidden at first, that make it even deeper and more sad.” —Roger Ebert

“Frailty” is a 2002 psychological thriller directed by and starring Bill Paxton, and co-starring Matthew McConaughey. The plot focuses on the strange relationship between two young boys and their father, who believes that he has been commanded by God to kill demons. Continuum Fellow, Charlie Forrester, will lead the discussion following the movie. Seating is limited, so please RSVP. 28 May 2011. 6:30 PM.

Roughly fifteen artists and friends gathered to watch and discuss the movie Exit Through the Gift Shop. We asked and considered several questions including What is Art, which we believe we solved (you can thank us later). O.K., so if not solved, at least considered along with tradition, branding, money, critics, power, patronship, creativity and making all as they relate to art (all questions raised by the film). The discussion hopefully will get you considering what your place in these things might be both as an artist and consumer of arts. The discussion is lead by Continuum Fellow, Kent Smith.