Art Smitten

Producer Christian chats to hosts Ellie and Jack about North of Eight's production of Gardner McKay's Toyer, featuring Faran Martin and Kashmir Sinnamon, which runs until May 13 at the Courthouse Hotel, 86-90 Errol St, North Melbourne.

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Shining a spotlight on American independent cinema

The American Essentials Film Festival, now in its second year, features a range of independent works produced over the last year and timeless American Masterpieces. The Artistic Director, Richard Sowada created a program that captured the essence of American culture. The program features G-Funk, Annie Hall and feature documentaries such as The Bomb that Sowada noted “is an interesting piece… particularly at a time like now”.

David Lynch: The Art Life is one of the featured works inthe festival. It uses Lynch’s artworks, archives and stories from his past to get a deeper view of his work. Within the film, he speaks of his adolescences, his search for meaning and his push to create impactful works.

It is impossible to see David Lynch as dull, but Jon Nguyen's documentary about him comprises mostly of montages of the director's paintings interspersed with dramatic music that were a distraction more than anything. Some music felt carefully crafted to the tone of Lynch’s work but the dramatic chords such as that in the beginning felt more suitable for a Bold & The Beautiful shock reveal. I felt irritated at the film’s push towards depicting Lynch as the egocentric brooding artist. The coffee drinker, the hard-working painter burdened with this pressure to make art. This "no one will ever understand me" mantra has played repeatedly in Art Cinema and it seems to be inflating the art worlds ego more than anything. Rather than alienating its audience in the world of the somewhat-cold Lynch, Nguyen perhaps could have created a more engaging dialogue that involved art viewers and friends alike.

I see films such as these that supposedly explore a new side of artist as pointless. Considering how much of artist’s experiences they usually put into their work, these films only seem to point out well established facts for fans.

To be fair, the interview style at his home studio in the Hollywood Hills were nice.  The shots of him in which you could she him reacting to his life felt genuine, particularly when he was playing with his daughter.

As the movie progressed, like with films such as Whiteley the fun of the first few minutes of the film had become a gimmick.  Props to the Cinematographer, Jason S., as the shots were visually beautiful but they were all so slow! Shots of Lynch playing with his hands were ok for the first few seconds yet it becomes tediously long.

Nethertheless, this film has an amazing array of David Lynch’s visual art, seen with the telling of accompanying stories. The film also gives viewers footage from the notoriously press-shy director including pictures and footage from early life.
Therefore, this film is recommended for Lynch fans and art lovers. The film undeniably gives you an unusual look into David Lynch and his work that is best to be engaged if you are aware of the cold and surreal works Lynch has done with paint and film.

Written by Maria Dunne

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“I myself almost don’t know which season I like best;  I believe all of them equally well”

-Van Gogh London 1873

The NGV has done it again.  The NGV has pulled off one of its most ambitious plans for the 2017 collection. The Winter Masterpieces exhibition, which started in 2004, features a beautiful array of Van Gogh pieces; some of which have never been on Australian soil.

The exhibition featured the contribution of, a deeply devoted Van Gogh scholar and curator. Sjraar found seasons a proper title for a collection of Van Gogh’s work. She stated that within Van Gogh’s work “seasons become a representation of life itself”. Seasons reflected his sporadic passions and pain within his life.

The Exhibit makes note of many aspects of Van Gogh’s life that aren’t as widely known.  The exhibit reflects on Vincent’s relationship with his brother Theo and how he inspired Vincent to become an artist. It also reflects on his time in Nuenen which he spent drawing and painted farmers working the land. Sketches like The Sower (1882) showed Van Gogh’s interest in the darker themes of emptiness and cold.

Another aspect that makes the NGV’s exhibit unique is its use of Japanese prints at the beginning of the exhibition. Sjraar notes that he was “fascinated by Japan”. As a painter in Paris at the end of the 19th century, Van Gogh became indoctrinated in the same curiosity with Japanese prints as other Impressionists did. A particular artist that is featured heavily in this section is Utagawa Kumisada, who did prints such as Actor Iwai Hanshiro as Oyasu.

The exhibition features the two sides of Van Gogh. It relays the bright, vibrant pieces such as the much advertised A Wheatfield, with Cypresses, (1889) as well as The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Winter (1884). It is a phenomenal achievement for the National Gallery Victoria and a beautiful new look into the Dutch painter.

Words and image by Maria Dunne

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I often find myself unable to articulate what I feel, think and experienced after seeing a Rabble show, and JOAN was no different, so here’s my best shot at trying to speak about it.

JOAN is an experimental theatre production exploring the story of Joan of Arc. It has no plot or story and very little dialogue, and it is made mainly of images inspired primarily from Joan of Arc. A lot of the show is quite visceral, not only in the performers' bodies, but also in all the elements of production, including sound design and stage design, it was very uncomfortable in it’s imagery but also very beautiful. It speaks to and explores why Joan of Arc has been retold so many times and why she is so significant. And to my understanding the story of Joan of Arc is also used as vessel to explore women’s/females bodily autonomy, and violence.

As always in The Rabble shows, the direction, light, sound, and design of this work was impeccable, some of the most beautiful lighting design and a beautiful use of the space in theatre works.

I usually can understand the relevance and the politics behind The Rabble's work, but I found JOAN to be a bit disappointing on that part. I felt this show was a series of images inspired by Joan of Arc put together on stage, although they were all interesting and beautiful, there was no retailing that was relevant to contemporary Australia or modern feminism. It felt a bit reserved and I really wanted a lot more political commentary, The Rabble are usually so good at that!

Unfortunately I was dissatisfied with this production, The Rabble are usually so great at making a politically charged, beautiful disgusting masterpiece but yeah, unfortunately it was just beautiful disgusting this time round for me.

All that being said, The Rabble are theatre genius and I will keep supporting them until they disband or I die.

Written by Finley Fletcher

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Part 2 of Samara and Smithers' interview with Rebecca Rosengrave about her debut young adult fantasy novel, Gumtree Gargoyles.

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CONTENT WARNING: Mental illness

Part 1 of Samara and Smithers' interview with Rebecca Rosengrave about her debut young adult fantasy novel, Gumtree Gargoyles.

Click here for Part 2!

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An Intimate look into Brett Whiteley's life and legacy

Whiteley uses Brett Whiteley's art and interview archives to take you on a journey into his inner psyche. Within the footage he tells of his relationship with Wendy,  his search for meaning and his push to create art that serves a purpose for the public. His life is summed up with tension and brooding that Brett unsuccessfully attempts to get away from.

The film starts off strong, playing with the biographical art piece of Brett, incorporated with the amazing score of Ash Gibson Greg. However, as the movie progressed, the fun of the first few minutes of the film had vanished.  It became another story of a brooding artist going to overseas to find himself,  coming back to Australia when he lost himself and feeling generally as lost in his life. This contradicted with the tagline from the movie "if there's no meaning to life then you might as well make it extraordinary." Where was the fun, bold character of Whiteley?

A similar frustration was the use of visual effects, acting as a means of engaging the audience.  The effects were a distraction more than anything and some images felt clearly used out of context in order to push the story along.  

I felt that this documentary would feel more engaging if it had less dramatic reenactments of Whiteley falling across the room in agony and more of the occasional friend of the family discussing him. As it was so personal, the documentary felt too caught up in his world and I felt frustrated as the egocentric "no one will ever understand his inner psyche" mantra played over and over again.

Nethertheless, the art showed within the film made me giddy and involved. His work is something deeply immersive, making you think in various ways. His discussions about life, colour and being influenced by the Renaissance painters, such as Massacio, made me contemplate his work in a new way.

This film therefore is recommended for art buffs and Brett Whiteley fans. It undeniably gives you a new look into his world and though at times it felt overtly dramatic, the film also intrigues you.

Written by Maria Dunne

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Smithers reviews Comedy Zone Asia, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival show featuring Jinx Yeo, Neeti Palta, Sumit Anand, Rizal van Geyzel and Douglas Lim that runs until April 23.

Click here to listen to Smithers' interview with Douglas!

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