calling Nicolas Bourriaud: be kind, rewind
A fascinating discussion of commercialization, and the kind of art critical analysis that I’d expect in Art Forum. That’s what I saw in Ken Johnson’s article Shoot It Yourself in the Times today.
I wonder what other readers thought about Mr. Johnson’s premise that Michel Gondry, writer-director of “Be Kind Rewind” (and director of Charlie Kauffman’s “…Spotless Mind”) wants to have his cake and eat it, too. The idea is that Gondry’s new show at Deitch invites people to make their own videos, a la his movie, as a way of commenting on our excess of passive consumption of commercial products. Johnson counters that most of what people are creating is crap and that Gondryl project benefits from good connections in the commercial world he is criticizing and that his movie’s version of self-made films only work because he’s such a talented filmmaker.
It’s summed up here:
Could moviemaking become such a socially transformative activity? Imagine a sequel to “Be Kind Rewind†in which guerrilla filmmaking groups sweep the nation, creating a grass-roots cinema by and for the people that raises the collective self-consciousness. That seems about as probable as community theater replacing Broadway.
So Mr. Gondry is trying to have it both ways. On the one hand he can enjoy being a celebrity auteur and a visionary conceptual artist; on the other, in theory at least, he can be seen as a populist champion.
It doesn’t add up. Mr. Gondry comes off seeming confused and conflicted — if not condescending, self-serving and intellectually slippery. Given how inventive an artist he has proven to be, it would be interesting to see him try to realize his fantasies outside the magic bubbles of high-end moviemaking and the high-brow art world.
Any thoughts?
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