Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Stroszek


I liked Stroszek a lot more than I thought I would. Since the only thing I knew about it was that it was filmed very authentically and was more or less “real life,” I was honestly expecting it to be relatively boring. However, it ended up keeping my attention most of the time, although it was rather confusing at times.

It was very interesting to learn that Bruno S. was actually kept in asylums for most of his life and he had little experience with the outside world when the movie was filmed. Also that the old man was actually just a crazy old man who believed in conspiracies. Eva was actually an actress and not a prostitute, but she played it well. It is funny that Herzog pinpointed random people that he wanted in his film, like an MC that he heard one time, a Native American mechanic that he met once, and the world’s best livestock auctioneer.



Now that I think about it, the way I feel about Stroszek is similar to how I felt after seeing Boyhood. Boyhood was all made with real actors, but it has the same feel of just watching someone’s life happen before you. You may expect a film like this to be boring because the concept of “everyday life” does not seem that interesting. But then you realize that it is so intriguing to so closely watch someone else’s life unfold before you, because we are so used to just noticing our own lives.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Gillian Wearing

I really enjoyed learning about Gillian Wearing’s work. It is all quite fascinating. I love that she was able to make compelling pieces of art out of the lives of everyday people. That is one thing that I strive toward in my own art.


One of my favorite pieces was Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what other people want them to say. I like the idea of having someone’s thoughts be with them in a photograph in written form. It reminds me of Wing Young Huie’s work, which he lectured about at Lawrence a few years ago.


All of her video work is incredible as well. At first glance, it all just seems weird or boring, but they are actually very conceptual and have deep meanings behind them. It is safe to say that Gillian Wearing is now one of my inspirations.