It is always interesting to meet the faces and people behind the various forms of art that cultivate our world, and Hillman Curtis’ Artist Series does an amazing job telling the stories of various graphic designers, filmmakers and visual artists.
Two of these mini-documentaries really stood out to me. First was filmmaker Mark Romanek. I did not him before this video, but I was familiar with some of his works – he directed some of my favorite music videos from middle and high school, from Jay-Z’s ’99 Problems’ to Linkin Park’s ‘Faint’ to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Can’t Stop.’ It was fascinating to go into the mind of the man behind such unique (and sometimes confusing and very dramatic) videos. Two parts of the interview stuck with me. First, how he says in an ideal video, you make people think, for example, that you walked into an actual prison and are taking the video of actual prisoners during a normal day in their life, instead of actors in a studio somewhere. Second, how people think he always has an idea of the story he wants to tell in his videos, but that is actually far from the case. Many times, he takes clips and just puts them together, forcing him to actually cut some of his favorite clips.
Graphic designer James Victore also stood out from the group, with his different and controversial-looking pieces dealing with everything from racism to safe sex (those safe sex pieces were a little disturbing to me. I hope I never see two flies in that same position again.). I have not seen many people with the same passion or confidence that Victore brings to his craft, such as his belief that he can beat any art student with just black paper and scissors. I loved his comment that while graphic design is great for selling socks, it is best used to make social commentary. Just look at his pieces on racism and George W. Bush and you will see what I mean.
All in all, these were some very intriguing pieces. I did not get to watch all of them sadly, but when I get some free time, I will make sure to check out the rest.
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