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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sculpture and Anselm Kiefer's "Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow"



Saw the film about Anselm Kiefer's work, "Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow."

It's the most nihilistic film I've ever seen. 

Kiefer's productivity and the scale he works on is amazing.
Some of the images/objects he creates are very beautiful.

But over the course of the film it was painful watching Kiefer melting lead with no respiration protection. In effect, poisoning himself, his staff, and ultimately the world around him. That's one instance among many in the film.

When an interviewer asks him to speak of "beauty" he says "Beauty is a puppet I carry in front of me."

In the final moments of the film, the camera linkers over his enormous aesthetic ruins, a dead landscape. It evokes the war torn landscapes of Iraq and Afgahnistan. I thought, "He's rich. He's famous. The work is selling. But without respect for life, starting with his own, it's pretty meaningless."

I'm curious to know your response to "Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow".

2 comments:

Deb said...

Yup.
That austere beauty quickly turns depressing . Think I'll go detox with some Disney animation :)

kara rane said...

looks like Vieques Island.
that is exactly how they use concrete to build...