When the three Naugler brothers fire up their chainsaws, they're not preparing to lay waste a stand of timber; nope, they're fixin' to create some art...folk art. Just like another Nova Scotian, Garnet McPhail, who makes three-foot long wooden green alligators, or Sidney Howard who carves fish. Filmmaker Alex Busby's Folk Art Found Me, which has already snared a Best Documentary prize at the Atlantic Film Festival, is a thoroughly entertaining look at the folk art scene in Nova Scotia. The film visits a handful of folk artists at their rural residences, interviewing these colorful creators and ogling their creations (question: "where does your art come from?" answer: "I don't know. I guess somewhere back in the brain.") Whatever you call it: art from the heart, art without pretension, or just plain folk art, the work displayed in Folk Art Found Me is art by the people for the people, and many of these artists have a hard time keeping up with the ever-increasing demand. It's a problem that a lot of Greenwich Village artists would love to have. a humorous slice of Canadian folk life.Joan Miró--Constellations: The Color of Poetry is a combination, unfortunately, of performance art, biography, and art criticism, which offers a voice-over narration of both hyperinflated commentary on the artist's contributions, and Miró's own words, while a costumed character flits around pointing out various works by the artist. Miró said: "My work should be like a poem set to music by a painter," which is rather wishful thinking on the artist's part. Other Miróisms shared with viewers include: "I refuse any kind of classification," "I do not like the bourgeoisie," "I hate virtuosity," and "I hope I shall...be attacked right up to the last minute." When we're not being graced by the attention-getting remarks of a petulant brat, we're served up examples of Miró's paintings (a wildly uneven offering which display a fairly narrow range), along with invitations to "read" the artist's limited repertoire of symbols: female genitalia, stars, eyes, and birds which, taken together, have a lot to say about Catalonian politics during the first half of the 20th century (so we're told). An art student might be foolish enough to sit through this pretentious homage (to be fair, in many ways Miró was certainly no worse than his idol Marcel Duchamps, who thought his chess games and the notes he wrote to himself were "art"), but most people will want to skip this.Martin Holt's Rudy Autio: Montana Artist is a low-budget look at Montana sculptor Rudy Autio in his studio creating a bisque-fired sculpture featuring etchings of "full-figured ladies." Although there are brief bits of biographical information, and a series of shots of other works by Autio, the main focus is on watching Autio shape, etch, paint, fire, and touch-up the single piece while he offers voice-over narration. Unfortunately, this falls somewhere between a "how-to" and a profile, without really being either. Some avid sculptors might be willing to sit through such an unfocused film, but it's not for general audiences.Folk Art Found Me is highly recommended for larger collections. Joan Miró--Constellations: The Color of Poetry is an optional purchase for larger art collections. Rudy Autio: Montana Artist is not recommended. (R. Pitman)
Folk Art Found Me; Joan Miró--Constellations: the Color Of Poetry; Rudy Autio: Montana Artist
(1993) 28 min. $200. National Film Board of Canada. PPR. Color cover. Closed captioned. Vol. 9, Issue 5
Folk Art Found Me; Joan Miró--Constellations: the Color Of Poetry; Rudy Autio: Montana Artist
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: