(Yes, I’m still sick, and yes, I’m still watching documentaries.)
Rivers and Tides is about the artist Andy Goldsworthy, a sculptor who works strictly with natural materials, often outdoors, often on sculptures that will collapse, disintegrate, or otherwise transform under the influence of time, tides, weather, animals, etc.
I thought of Susan Cooper’s Greenwitch, the idea of making something and giving it back to the sea, and both the potential and the danger inherent in using what nature provides.
Then I remembered In My Language, and wished that she and Goldsworthy could have a conversation about the ways they experience the world.
Then there was a sequence where we see Goldsworthy’s family, and that made me think of talking with signifier about how hard it is to find an off switch when you’re constantly analyzing all the cultural products you consume with an eye to the ones you intend to produce, and I wondered: could Goldsworthy have, say, a snowball fight with his kids without watching the trajectories of the snowballs and considering how he might use them in a future work?
kathmuse
March 4, 2007 at 1:35 pmInteresting analogy…you are familiar with Midsummer Snowballs, right? It’s one of my favorite Goldsworthy books because it’s just so very odd. I can’t remember if they put it in this documentary or not…
Sorry you’re feeling ill, I’m not doing too well myself. The husband has been working in Boston since January and it looks like we’ll be relocating there this fall. I’m watching documentaries, too, in order to pass the time. Here are some of my faves…
The Farmer’s Wife – long, but fascinating. Perhaps just to me, perhaps because I’m from Nebraska. Although I’ve never lived on a farm.
Jesus Camp – fairly self-explainatory.
Education of Shelby Knox – Small-town Texas teenager becomes an advocate for sex education by challenging her high school’s policy of teaching abstinence.
A Life Apart – Hasidism in America
Hiding and Seeking – made by the team that brought us the documentary mentioned above. A father takes his grown-up Orthodox Jewish sons to Poland to teach them about the perils of putting up walls to keep those they deem dangerous outside. A great double feature.
Villisca: Living with a Mystery – Explores the facts surrounding the brutal 1912 slayings of an entire family in Villisca, Iowa, by person or persons unknown. Historical true crime is one of my gulity pleasures.
Lemme know if you need more recommendations, I’ve certainly got ’em!
kath
purvision
March 5, 2007 at 6:10 pmI saw the Goldsworthy thing in the theater. One of my favorite parts is in the kitchen where his wife is trying to get him talking about what plans he has for the day. Andy, though, is sure she’s mugging for the camera crew. “Who are you working for…?” he asks in Scottish brogue.