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Art and Culture

Art and Culture

PITCH, THE: PASSING THE HAT FOR A LIVING

By Jim Kuehnel

What is a "Brusker"? According to Merriam-Webster, a brusker is a 'street performer'; a person who entertains in a public place for donations. Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many instances the rewards are in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Brusking is practiced all over the world and dates back to antiquity. It is also, in contemporary times, used by performers as a way to get discovered.

Performances can be virtually anything¡K anything that people find entertaining. Performers may do acrobatics, animal tricks, balloon twisting, caricatures, clowning, comedy, contortions, escapology, dance, singing, fire skills, flea circus, fortune-telling, juggling, magic, mime, living statue, musical performance, puppeteering, snake charming, storytelling or reciting poetry or prose, street art such as sketching and painting, street theatre, sword swallowing, and ventriloquism. Brusking is only limited by the imagination of the performer.

"The Pitch" takes a look at the world of international street performing bruskers to find out why these men and women have chosen to "pass the hat" to make a living, along with the challenges they face.

The fast-tracked project was filmed over the summers of 2015 and 2016 documenting busker performances and interviews during the 25th and 26th edition of the Buskers on The Bay Festivals.

Buskers featured in the film hail from Australia, England, the US and Canada, providing a broad spectrum of performers. The film is produced by Jim Kuehnel with Mark Berry and Duane Farley as Executive Producers.

Featured artists and interviews include Aerial Manx, Andrew Lopatin, Brad The Balloon Guy, Pogo Fred, Super Elvis, The Flying Tortillas, Madame Guillotine and many more.

Only available in United States.

DVD / 2017 / 93 minutes

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CHINESE LIVES OF ULI SIGG, THE

By Michael Schindhelm

Art world sensation Ai Weiwei credits him with launching his international career. Renowned pianist Lang Lang describes him as a mentor to Chinese artists. Curator Victoria Lu believes that his taste and influence as a collector has been felt around the world.

But when Swiss businessman Uli Sigg first went to China, art was far from his mind. The year was 1979, and Sigg-working for the Schindler escalator and elevator company-was hoping to set up one of the first joint ventures between the Chinese government, seeking international investment in the post-Mao era, and a Western company. At the time, even the fanciest hotels had rats, boardrooms were so poorly heated you could see your breath, and the government still regulated hairstyles (five different kinds of perm allowed).

Uli Sigg is not a man who does things by halves. "My ego, my way" says a t-shirt he wears at one point in the film. When he took up rowing, he went to the world championships. When he negotiated a joint venture, he wanted to create a model for future partnerships. And when he became interested in Chinese art, he built a world-class personal collection.

Sigg championed the artists he admired, working tirelessly for their international recognition and to preserve their artwork as a record of China's tumultuous and historic changes. Eventually, Sigg became the Swiss ambassador to China and a consultant on major Chinese art projects, including the construction of the Bird's Nest stadium for the Olympic Games.

THE CHINESE LIVES OF ULI SIGG, directed by art historian and scholar Michael Schindhelm (Bird's Nest) and produced by Marcel Hoehn (Dark Star: H. R. Giger's World, The Knowledge ofo Healing, Monte Grande, Santiago Calatrava's Travels, The Written Face) is a history of China's recent opening to the West, and of the West's embrace of Chinese contemporary art, through the eyes of Sigg and the artists he championed. Artists including Ai Weiwei, Cao Chong'en, Cao Fei, Gang Lijun, Feng Mengbo, Shao Fan, Wang Guangyi and Zeng Fanzhi are interviewed along with curators, diplomats, architects and business colleagues in this colorful documentary survey of contemporary Chinese art.

DVD (Color) / 2016 / 93 minutes

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KINGS OF THE PAGES: THE GOLDEN AGE OF COMIC STRIPS

Directed by Robert Lemieux

At the turn of the 20th century, two of the most powerful men in America were newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Noted mostly for their contentious rivalry and sensationalist news coverage, they were also responsible for cultivating some of the era's most recognizable celebrities-Nemo, Krazy, Happy Hooligan, George McManus, Ignatz, Mutt, Buster Brown, Hans and Fritz, and Offissa Pup, to name a few.

In their ongoing battle to attract newspaper readers, both Hearst and Pulitzer had discovered that comic strips were a strategic addition. Often raiding each other's staffs to acquire the best talent, both men recognized the potential. It wasn't until Hearst unveiled the first full color, 8-page comic supplement in 1896, that the potential was fully realized, prompting Hearst's now famous quote motto¡K "Eight Pages of Iridescent Polychromous Effulgence That Makes The Rainbow Look Like A Lead Pipe!"

Over the next fifty years, that polychromatic effulgence would usher in the Golden Age of the American comic strip. During that time span, more than 150 different strips made their way into America's living rooms. Every week the characters and their creators provided humorous entertainment and tickled many a funny bone. Reading the comics became a cultural phenomenon.

Only available in North America.

DVD / 2016 / 24 minutes

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MONEY ART

By Massimo Brega

Money and art: two worlds, seemingly far apart but actually closely intertwined. One could not exist without the other.

In this film viewers are taken on a journey of beauty. From Ancient Rome to the benches of Renaissance Italy where modern banking was born; from the court of Louis XIV to the auction room at Christie's and the sale of the world's most expensive works of art; from the Impressionists to the New York Stock Exchange.

Guided by historians, art collectors, economists and artists, with special contributions from economist, Jacques Attali, and performance artist, Marina Abramovich, we travel through history, through the art movements right up to the present day to reveal the true nature of this unique relationship between money and art.

You will learn:

Of the story of the richest man who ever lived. Jacob Fugger used art to gain political influence. He then used that influence to make deals which then enabled him build a business empire that today would be worth twice as much as Apple.

How a gambling Scottish art collector with outlandish economic theories bankrupted the kingdom of France. John Law was a scoundrel by any measure, yet his ideas for a new system of paper money gave rise to our modern system of banking and finance.

How the English godfather of modern economics started an art movement in Mexico. John Maynard Keynes was a passionate believer in state funding for the arts. The ideas he developed in the Bloomsbury Group would become the bedrock for Mexico's state funding of the arts, perhaps the world's most evolved system.

How a little known Swiss ambassador became the greatest collector of contemporary Chinese art. Uli Sigg now has his own private island on a Swiss lake. We visit his castle.

How one of largest banks in the world is now one of the most important art collectors. Deutsche Bank now has 60,000 pieces of modern art in 900 offices in 40 countries. How did that happen?

From slums to high society, from archives to open spaces, from private collections to public galleries, we get close to some of the world's most famous pieces of art and provide new insights as into the story of this paradoxical relationship between art and money.

In this visually stunning film, viewers experience the rich, sophisticated imagery that is the hallmark of director, Massimo Brega.

The glorious soundtrack comes from composer Pino Donaggio, who wrote hits for Dusty Springfield and Elvis, as well as regularly collaborating with US director, Brian De Palma. In 2012 Pino was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the World Soundtrack Academy.

The insightful script is by English financial writer, Dominic Frisby, whose film credits include the internet sensation, Four Horsemen, about the global financial crisis.

Only available in North America.

DVD (Color) / 2016 / 53 minutes

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BELTRACCHI: THE ART OF FORGERY

By Anne Birkenstock

For nearly 40 years, Wolfgang Beltracchi fooled the international art world and was responsible for the biggest art forgery scandal of the postwar era. An expert in art history, theory and painting techniques, he tracked down the gaps in the oeuvres of great artists - Max Ernst, Fernand Leger, Heinrich Campendonk, Andre Derain and Max Pechstein, above all - and filled them with his own works. He and his wife Helene would then introduce them to the art world as originals. What makes these forgeries truly one-of-a-kind is that they are never mere copies of once-existing paintings, but products of Beltracchi's imagination, works "in the style of" famous early 20th-century artists. With his forgeries, he fooled renowned experts, curators and art dealers. The auctioneers Sotheby's and Christie's were hoodwinked, just like Hollywood star Steve Martin and other collectors throughout the world.

In BELTRACCHI: THE ART OF FORGERY, Wolfgang and his wife Helene Beltracchi chat openly - and with great wit and charm - about their quixotic adventures in an overheated art world ruled by blind greed, and in which apparently no one has an answer to the question as to what is an original, and what is a forgery... Beltracchi is an engaging rogue, a warm-hearted husband and father, and an impossibly self-confident artist. Full of witty dialogues, the film shows Beltracchi's incredible talent as a painter and reveals his expertise in forging paintings from the early 20th century, which were so masterfully done that art experts, museums and auction houses around the world were duped and exposed.

DVD (Color) / 2014 / 93 minutes

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EAVESDROPPING ON SOULS: A JOURNEY INTO HAITIAN ARTS

By Jacqueline Jean-Baptiste

Eavesdropping on Souls is an award winning documentation of the spectacular art of Haiti and the underlying emotional culture of its people.

During the early 1960's and 1970's, many Haitians left their country and emigrated to the US, Mexico, Canada, Europe and several African countries to escape the oppressive conditions during the dictatorship of Francois "Papa Doc" and his son Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

What is so extraordinary about Haiti is that the poverty which surrounds the people seems to heighten the artistic creativity that is present in the Haitian people. One is struck by the vibrancy of the arts as it is mingled with the every day activities of ordinary people chasing a living and navigating constant political uncertainty.

Whether Haitians live in Haiti or abroad, they continue to express their creativity in various art forms including sculpture, painting and metal work. Unfortunately, this broad range of artistic creativity is often unseen.

Filmmaker Jacqueline Jean-Baptiste has dedicated herself to presenting some of the art and culture of Haiti with a cast of extraordinary painters, sculptors, photographers and other artisans. The result is a portrait of extraordinary art from a complex culture.

Eavesdropping on Souls is about creativity as it is expressed by Haitians within and outside of Haiti.

This film is dedicated to Haitians who, after leaving Haiti, rarely or have never returned; also to young people born outside of Haiti, from Haitian parents, who are used to the images of poverty and corruption portrayed in the press. And to everyone, curious about discovering a complete image of Haiti in its essence.

DVD (English and French) / 2014 / 50 minutes

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NEXT BIG THING, THE

By Frank van den Engel

Prices for contemporary art are going through the roof despite the lousy economic situation in general. Internet, the growing number of rich individuals and globalization have changed the art market beyond recognition. Has contemporary art become a commodity in the hands of the super rich private collectors?

This film investigates the ins and outs of the soaring art market and the consequences for artists, dealers, museums and for art history.

With among others: artists Chuck Close, Jack Whitten and Adrian Ghenie, Top 200 art collectors under which Bert Kreuk, Martin Z. Margulies and Thomas Olbricht, museum directors Udo Kittelman and Benno Tempel and Christie's Chairman NY.

DVD (Color) / 2014 / 57 minutes

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OCHRE AND INK

By James Bradley

A landmark exhibition opens at the imposing Capital Museum in Beijing. It's the culmination of an extraordinary cross-cultural partnership between Chinese-Australian artist Zhou Xiaoping and the late Aboriginal artist Johnny Bulunbulun, forged over twenty years in remote Arnhem Land.

The extraordinary story of Xiaoping's journey to Australia and his close friendships with Bulunbulun and other Aboriginal people is illustrated with beautiful artwork, fascinating archival videos, and intimate scenes of life in remote Aboriginal outstations-and it reveals the ethics and politics of cross-cultural collaboration.

Ochre and Ink tells the extraordinary story of artist Zhou Xiaoping and his inspiring 23 year collaboration with Aboriginal artists in outback Australia.

Trained as a traditional Chinese brush painter in Anhui Province, Xiaoping arrived in Australia in 1988 knowing almost nothing about the country. On a whim, he traveled to the heart of the outback, where he was surprised to see Aboriginal people for the first time. He became fascinated by their art and culture, and they welcomed him into their communities where the artists showed him their techniques of painting with ochre on bark.

Now Xiaoping is visiting the famous artist Johnny Bulunbulun and his family, working on paintings for a major exhibition to be held in Beijing, on the theme of the 300 year trade in Trepang (sea cucumber) from the Aboriginal people of northern Australia via Macassan traders to China.

Johnny is keen to travel to China for the exhibition; but tragically, he dies before he can make the journey. Instead, Johnny's wife and son attend the exhibition opening at the imposing Capital Museum in Beijing and perform an emotional ceremony in his honour.

Later Xiaoping shows his Aboriginal friends some of the fascinating sights of Beijing.

DVD (Color) / 2012 / 28 minutes

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FOLD CRUMPLE CRUSH: THE ART OF EL ANATSUI

By Susan Vogel

FOLD CRUMPLE CRUSH: THE ART OF EL ANATSUI gives an insider's view of the artist's practice, the ingenious steps and thousands of hours of labor that convert used bottle tops into huge, opulent wall hangings. Here Anatsui explains how his artworks have become a marriage of painting and sculpture, objects that speak of African history but also reach for the ethereal - and he talks about his aspirations for artworks he has yet to make.

Behind the charming, easy-going artist we discover a man who remains mysterious even to his dearest friends. The film circles around Anatsui, drawing ever closer to a deep understanding of the man and his surprising bottle top hangings. We see the celebrated artist installing work on the great world stage of the Venice Biennale; we follow him back to the small town of Nsukka as he goes about his daily life, then watch him inside the hive of his studio directing assistants as they stitch together bottle tops into a vast metal hanging. Finally, Anatsui admits us to the privacy of his home where he tells us about his formative years, and reveals a youthful discovery that clouded his life.

DVD (Color) / 2011 / 53 minutes

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SWING IN BEIJING

Directed by Shui-Bo Wang

A comprehensive survey of creative life in contemporary Beijing, SWING IN BEIJING captures a remarkable impression of the current state of fine and performing arts in this rapidly changing city. Academy Award nominee Shui-Bo Wang has incorporated interviews with artists, filmmakers, and musicians, along with clips of films, plays and music videos, paintings and other artwork in galleries and studios, and revealing footage of a city in transition.

Although government censorship has been a threat to artists in China for years, many of the artists cite the lack of venues and financial support as the new censorship. Gao Xing, aged 26, is the lead singer of the punk group Underbaby. Gao and his friends say it isn't the government but music producers and MTV-China that demand less controversial lyrics. For painter Wei Dong censorship is a danger that lies within. During the Cultural Revolution his parents were persecuted, and Wei knows his memories must influence him in some way, though he tries to resist the impulse to tone down his work.

The painful transformation of Beijing is a subject many of the artists confront. In response to the destruction of the old quarter, Wei Dong explores artistic methods that embrace modernization but preserve Chinese culture. Filmmaker Jia Khang Ke explores the loss of traditional values and culture as well. Using his small, hometown Penang as the setting, his most recent film is a meditation on the dissolution of the traditional family in China. Zhan Wang is also troubled by the demolition of the old District. In his state-owned studio he creates work that asks, "Where do we come from?" Freed from financial constraints by his work as a commercial artist, Zhan creates conceptual art by photographing the demolished old district, then photographing the same area after his 'renovations.' His work is completed as the new structures go up over the old.

All of these artists, and many others interviewed in SWING IN BEJING, debate the value of Western recognition. While selection for a Western show like the Venice Bi-annual guarantees international fame, the selected pieces are often shown out of context, diluting their power. Western curators, says Wu Mei Chun, tend to pick pieces that shock the Western sensibility, not the best piece. A graduate of the China Institute of Fine Arts she decided to stop practicing art in order to curate. Now 31, she puts on controversial group shows in non-official settings.

Finally, SWING IN BEIJING takes us to the Central Experimental Playhouse for a production of Dario Fo's Death of an Anarchist. Director Men Jeng Hui was a student activist during the Tiananmen uprising, and says the events of 1989 are his formative experiences. Citing Stanislavsky's student Meyerhold as his inspiration, he insists that theater always needs revolution. By raising funds from friends and private corporations (the government has cut funding to the theater), Men Jeng was able to put on a production that is openly challenging to authority. It exemplifies the current state of censorship in Beijing: the government won't stop you from making something, but it won't provide the crucial venue and funding that is necessary to reach the public.

Shui-Bo Wang, whose critically acclaimed film SUNRISE OVER TIANANMEN SQUARE was nominated for an Academy Award, has returned to the cradle of his artistic development, creating an informative and surprising film about the challenges and rewards of the life of an artist in present-day Beijing.

DVD (Color) / 2000 / 73 minutes

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CFH SEMINARS IN MODERN ART: BREAK WITH TRADITION (IMPRESSIONISM)

From the Impressionism of the 1800s through the experiments of the last decade, this colorful program analyzes the most important trends of the last two centuries.

Unit One: The Break with Tradition introduces students to the origins of modern art. Explains one of the most revolutionary aspects of Impressionists painting-its use of color-as seen in the works of Monet, Pissarro and Renoir.

DVD (With Teacher's Guide) / 1975 / 20 minutes

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CFH SEMINARS IN MODERN ART: CONTEMPORARY TRENDS

From the Impressionism of the 1800s through the experiments of the last decade, this colorful program analyzes the most important trends of the last two centuries.

Unit Four: Contemporary Trends describes the American art scene in the 1940s when painters in New York developed Abstract Expressionism. Among the artists represented are Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Adolph Gottlieb and mark Rothko. Brings the discussion up to the present by examining the Minimal, Pop, Conceptual and Photo-realist movements.

DVD (With Teacher's Guide) / 1975 / 20 minutes

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CFH SEMINARS IN MODERN ART: EXPLORING THE HEART & THE MIND (EXPRESSIONISM)

From the Impressionism of the 1800s through the experiments of the last decade, this colorful program analyzes the most important trends of the last two centuries.

Unit Three: Exploring the Heart & the Mind discusses the Expressionist and Surrealist artists who sought to reveal deep feelings and subconscious thoughts in their paintings. Includes work by Rousseau, Redon, Roualt, Matisse, Nolde, Kirchner, Kandinski and others.

DVD (With Teacher's Guide) / 1975 / 20 minutes

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CFH SEMINARS IN MODERN ART: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF SPACE

From the Impressionism of the 1800s through the experiments of the last decade, this colorful program analyzes the most important trends of the last two centuries.

Unit Two: The Reconstruction of Space highlights a major category of modern art-Cubism-and traces the influence of Cezzane's cubistic style on Picasso and Braque.

DVD (With Teacher's Guide) / 1975 / 20 minutes

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LEARNING TO SEE & UNDERSTAND: DEVELOPING VISUAL LITERACY

Shows how great artists have expressed their feelings through art. Explores works by Leonardo da Vinci, Goya, Lichtenstein, Bierstadt, Picasso, Wyeth, Kelly, Albers and Matisse to show students how great artists have expressed their feelings in their work. Ruth Benedict, Marshall McLuhan, Stanley Kubrick and Kurt Vonnegut offer contemporary comments on visual literacy.

DVD / 1973 / 42 minutes

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METROPOLITAN SEMINARS IN ART: COMPOSITION

The Metropolitian Museum Seminars In Art:

Unit Three: Composition

A Chronological exploration of the elements of composition, focusing on the element of pattern, from Gozzoli to Matisse; structure from Pollaiuolo to Cezzane; and expression from Sassetta to Degas. Students study two-dimensional and three-dimensional compositions and learn the similarities and differences between the two.

DVD / 1972 / 25 minutes

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METROPOLITAN SEMINARS IN ART: EXPRESSIONISM / ABSTRACTION

The Metropolitian Museum Seminars In Art:

Unit Two: Expressionism / Abstraction

Defines Expressionism as the distortion of form and color for emotional interpretation. It defines Abstraction as seeking to reduce solid objects to the flat plane surface. Students contrast Mondrian's highly intellectual approach with Kandinsky's emotionalized abstractions.

DVD / 1972 / 23 minutes

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METROPOLITAN SEMINARS IN ART: TECHNIQUES

The Metropolitian Musuem Seminars In Art:

Unit Four: Techniques

A detailed description of the technical aspects of working in various media: fresco, tempera, oil, watercolor, pastel, woodcut, etching and lithography.

DVD / 1972 / 26 minutes

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METROPOLITAN SEMINARS IN ART: THE ARTIST AS SOCIAL CRITIC/VISIONARY

The Metropolitian Musuem Seminars In Art

Unit Five: The Artist as Social Critic/ Visionary

Show how painters have expressed their ideas about relationships, protested vice or injustice, commented on human folly and achievement. Includes examples of social criticism by Botticelli, Goya, Hogarth and Riveria, Blake, Bosch, Dali, DeChirico

DVD / 1972 / 25 minutes

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METROPOLITAN SEMINARS IN ART: WHAT IS A PAINTING? REALISM

The Metropolitian Museum Seminars In Art:

Unit One: What is a Painting? Realism

Introduces the fundamental principles of art appreciation and explains technique, composition and personal expression. Students trace realism from Van Eyck to Hopper.

DVD / 1972 / 24 minutes

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ART WITH A MESSAGE: PROTEST & PROPAGANDA, SATIRE & SOCIAL COMMENT

This program investigates the ways various art forms are used to sway minds and to argue political causes. Examples include Napoleon and Hitler; artist such as Daumier, Hogarth and Shahn; writers Dickens, Swift and Orwell; and pop artists who mock popular ideals.

DVD / 1971 / 35 minutes

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WHY MAN CREATES: MAN - THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS

Using great works of art and selected passages from literature, this program helps students understand why the history of art is the history of civilization. Students trace people's continuing efforts to express themselves and their concepts of God, life, beauty, joy, order and identity through art. Based on the Metropolitian Musuem of Art's Centennial Exhibition, Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries.

DVD / 1971 / 59 minutes

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