11.06.2010
Guy Ben-Ner talks about his films
Braving the sweltering heat at the Wyspiański Pavilion, the first guests of the festival came to see Guy Ben-Ner and to view his earlier artistic films, hear him tell stories and answer their questions.
“I work in video, because I like to be economical”, said Ben-Ner “Besides which, film tape is too fetishist.” For me, the process of creating a film is similar to painting a picture”, he added. The artist works on every stage of film production on his own. As a result, the artist enjoys great freedom: he can get closer to or farther from the work being created, add new elements or “paint over it” under the influence of new observations.
I'd give it to you if I could but I borrowed it, the first of the films presented, was prepared at Skulptur Projekte Münster, held once every ten years. The main roles in the film are played by the artist and his children, and it is filled with allusions and quotations from the history of art and the event itself. In a gesture of appropriation the artist undertook to borrow the works of artists like Pablo Picasso, Jean Tinguely, Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Beuys, Andreas Slominski, and Rodney Graham. “I tried to demonstrate that art is useful, not complicated”, said Guy Ben-Ner, commenting on the nature of these cinematic appropriations. As an interesting aside he told of how, when he presented them for the first time, the viewer, sitting on a stationary bicycle, controlled the speed of the film by pedalling and the manner of viewing by “steering”.
Wild Boy tells the story of a “feral child” who is subjected to the processes of socialisation. He learns the behaviours that in our “civilised” world are seen as “normal”: the alphabet, use of verbal language, manner of dress and savoir vivre. This work refers to the father figure, his duties and prerogatives, but it also shows that the process of childrearing consists of a complicated and two-sided relationship. “There is no clear barrier here between art and life, between use and abuse. Reality is a stage”, he said.
The last film presented, Moby Dick, in which the main role, aside from the artist, is played by his daughter Elia, refers to the classic novel by Herman Melville. Together in a home kitchen, they re-enact scenes taken from the pages of the book, in which violence is mixed with the grotesque, love with cruelty, and humour with gravity. In this work, Ben-Ner takes up the topic of the home as a space in which criticism of the dominant paradigm can take place, in the confines of which one battles to establish boundaries of intimacy. It also reaches toward the critical potential of play and traditional slapstick comedy. The artist also told us that the film Moby Dick was presented for the first time by Barbara London, who was present at the gathering, and who will give her lecture The Cutting Edge is Still Sharp tomorrow at 1 PM at the National Museum.
“I work in video, because I like to be economical”, said Ben-Ner “Besides which, film tape is too fetishist.” For me, the process of creating a film is similar to painting a picture”, he added. The artist works on every stage of film production on his own. As a result, the artist enjoys great freedom: he can get closer to or farther from the work being created, add new elements or “paint over it” under the influence of new observations.
Wild Boy tells the story of a “feral child” who is subjected to the processes of socialisation. He learns the behaviours that in our “civilised” world are seen as “normal”: the alphabet, use of verbal language, manner of dress and savoir vivre. This work refers to the father figure, his duties and prerogatives, but it also shows that the process of childrearing consists of a complicated and two-sided relationship. “There is no clear barrier here between art and life, between use and abuse. Reality is a stage”, he said.
The last film presented, Moby Dick, in which the main role, aside from the artist, is played by his daughter Elia, refers to the classic novel by Herman Melville. Together in a home kitchen, they re-enact scenes taken from the pages of the book, in which violence is mixed with the grotesque, love with cruelty, and humour with gravity. In this work, Ben-Ner takes up the topic of the home as a space in which criticism of the dominant paradigm can take place, in the confines of which one battles to establish boundaries of intimacy. It also reaches toward the critical potential of play and traditional slapstick comedy. The artist also told us that the film Moby Dick was presented for the first time by Barbara London, who was present at the gathering, and who will give her lecture The Cutting Edge is Still Sharp tomorrow at 1 PM at the National Museum.
