Above is the last few minutes of Adam’s latest work, “It Felt Like a Kiss”. This I believe is being toured around art houses in Europe and has yet to make it over here in a legal format. Adam is best known for his documentary series “The Power of Nightmares” and “The Trap”.

What makes Adam Curtis brilliant:

Adam has found a way to take complicated, ambiguous content and fashion it into something so immersive that it plays like a feature film.  He puts these complex ideas into a narrative that anyone can latch on to and supports it with found footage. It’s in this footage spanning the past century that he builds these compelling montages .

Where the Zeitgeist art docs come off as condescending, Adam Curtis comes off as that cool British teacher that knows his shit (and doesn’t belong at your university). He also has impeccable taste in visual imagery. He never says too much or blatantly panders his position but rather leaves it to the imagery and a bit of your imagination. Still, you can sense there’s always a gentle nudge.

There’s a unique feeling that comes with watching an Adam Curtis series that I’ve never felt in any other news  delivery vehicles.  It’s a hearty feeling, one you achieve only when you’ve learned something. But beyond that and even more amazing …  I WAS ENTERTAINED.

Who thought news information and entertainment could mix in such a lovely fashion.

Cheers to Adam Curtis and the ilk soon to follow.

If anyone should happen to be in St. Louis before September 19th

and that anyone should happen to be in Forest Park near the Art Museum–

then that someone should walk into the Art Museum and check out the latest video installation from Doug Aitken.

What you see: Wild animals enter or appear in various hotel rooms set free to do whatever they wish in the space. Some sit, others sniff, and some tare the place apart. Runtime: 18 minutes

This description doesn’t do the film justice. (no descriptions on this site will) But it’s quite good. There’s an excellent ambient soundtrack from some great artists.

If you like Mathew Barney then you’ll definitely like this. But even if you’ve never  seen a piece of video art in your life you’ll enjoy this. Read the rest of this entry →