Film: March 2008 Archives
Beautiful Losers is a new feature documentary film, just premiered in the States, that celebrates the independent and DIY spirit that unified a loose-knit group of American artists who emerged from the underground youth subcultures of skateboarding, graffiti, punk rock and hip hop - the likes of Ed Templeton (above), Shepard Fairey (whose art was recently shown in London - see below), Harmony Korine and Mike Mills. Directed by Joshua Leonard, it explores the remarkable impact that this group of influential outcasts have had on contemporary culture. How, for instance, does a young guy learning to skate become an internationally renowned photographer? They are imaginative doers, people united by an artistic independence who have somehow gone from here to there without really knowing what happened in between. “The real magic lies not only in the fact that we were acknowledged, but that, really, none of us were supposed to get there,” says Aaron Rose. “This is art created by a group of individuals who, in the eyes of society, were considered outcasts. When we started making our work it was never even an option to think of having a career.”
Perhaps the one guy who best encapsulates the kind of artistic success no one could have predicted is Ed Templeton (above), the non-smoking, teetotaling, vegan “hippie who hates hippies.” One of the first to take skateboarding beyond the bowls and pipes and out into the real world (street skating to you and I), Templeton turned to photography early on and, inspired by the brutal realism of the likes of Larry Clark, began to document his own life, firstly in skating but later in a far wider context: “I realised I was missing out on all this great subject matter that I was living around.” The shackles were off. There was so much more to say beyond skateboarding: “Every free moment I’m walking around the streets shooting photos of life in general. But I don’t stop there, I keep going, into my house.” And into the bedroom if his series of nude pictures of his wife Deanna are anything to go by...
Templeton wonders if he’ll be remembered when he’s gone, but if he isn’t, then he’s determined to ensure that his work is. “The thing I dislike is art that seems to have no craft. It’s just a clever idea and you have to have gone to years of art school to understand why it means anything. A fabricated blue cube on the wall says nothing to me, but a painting made by hand about subject dear to the artist says a lot more. Seriously documenting a certain time or group of people - that has a chance of going down in history as interesting.” That’s exactly what Beautiful Losers seems to have done: celebrating the people who, both as individuals and as a group, embody the boundless creative spirit that will always transcend what lesser people see only as limitations.
CHECK OUT OUR RECENT PIECE ON LARRY CLARK, THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND FILMMAKER WHO INSPIRED ED TEMPLETON, RIGHT HERE, AND ALSO ANP, THE BEAUTIFUL FREE-OF-CHARGE, FREE-OF-ADVERTISING ART MAGAZINE THAT HE NOW EDITS. A JACK OF ALL TRADES IN THE TRUEST SENSE...
You could write a thesis on the influence and significance of street art. But why not use film to tell the story. Better than that, documentary film in its purest form - a locked-off camera edited into a time-lapse piece. For over an hour, Jeremy Gibbs stood across the street from fresh work by Banksy on Essex Road, London, and filmed people who stopped to look and take photos.
The great thing about the film is that it captures the diversity of the audience. This isn’t about grubby kids vandalising for its own sake. It's about a blank canvas, and an artist with the determination to make his voice heard. The not so great thing about the film - the music. Sorry about that.
Woody and Buzz set the tone. They kicked it all off. We fell to our knees so we might touch the cloak of this magnificent new thing: the Lord of animation; images of the mind rendered in three dimensions. Oh the possibilities. Oh the brilliance of it. But like any regime, we grew tired. The great paradigm shift was forgotten, and then the improvements became smaller and smaller, and we ceased to care quite so much. Okay, so it’s not quite as black and white as that, but new advances in CGI animation aren’t enough anymore. We are human beings. We crave stories, meaning, emotion, not technological advance, and these are the things that even the simplest animations can support. They bring static images to life and transcend the possibilities of the everyday. You can make the flimsiest drawing do what an actor could never do. There are no restrictions. With a pen, a piece of paper, a computer - whatever - it shouldn’t matter. The great animated films show that, where animation is concerned, the possibilities are endless.
And, by all accounts, Persepolis is one of those. While the American studios turn away their once treasured two dimensional friends and choose to dine with newer models - Disney closed down its 2D Florida studio in 2004 - a chaotic little Parisian studio was, under the guidance of Marjane Satrapi, busy putting together one of the film sensations of 2007. An assemblage of simple lines washed with greys and blacks, the lead protagonists in Persepolis don’t claim to go to infinity and beyond, and yet, according to the universally favourable reviews, they do.
The thing is, the latest Silicon Graphics machines and the greatest team of CAD wizards can only get you so far, but a little imagination, creativity and determination can take you anywhere you want - something Marjane Satrapi knows only too well:
“Animation is like the Wild West. Anything is possible. And when you come from the underground, lots of work doesn’t freak you out. That is what art should be about - you work because you like your work, not to get paid.”
Like those American studios then...
For an in-depth exploration of Persepolis, cinema and truth in movies, look out for this month’s LITTLE WHITE LIES, a cult film publication currently building a devoted following through its heartfelt editorial, stunning production, and unwavering commitment to the very best in film.
