A Breath of Fresh Air

My name is ke$hav prasad. I am Screen Arts and Cultures student at school here. I want to be an artist. So this year, I decided to devote some time every week to blog about art, because I believe in order to become a better artist, I ought to be having better thoughts about art.

Since this is the first time I have ever blogged, I figure the best place to start is with an important question: so what exactly is art, anyway?

What is the first thing that comes into my head when I hear the word “art”?

I’m thinking of some pissed off, starving bearded dude hunched over a wide canvas, paintbrush in one hand, glass of bourbon in the other, eyes ablaze with a transcendental vision into the unique quality that makes us all human.

But that’s not me. That’s not most artists. Most artists have not recused themselves from society in order to painstakingly craft some ideal opus, they’re day-to-day professionals, just like everyone else, who use their creative skills to produce content for others – be it posters, advertisement videos, a building’s interior decor…and the list goes on.

But…is all of this everyday stuff “Art”? You are getting paid to create something per someone else’s request, after all. That seems like the opposite of being creative. (yeah, this shit keeps me up at night)

So let’s take another approach to this question. Let’s turn theory into practice and look at a car commercial side by side some clips from the films of Martin Scorsese – established and celebrated American “auteur director” (you can tell by the use of the french word in his title that this guy is a fucking artist, all right).

I want to begin with Scorsese. I’ve chosen the opening sequences of two famous Scorsese gangster films: Goodfellas and Casino.

Goodfellas Opening Scene

Casino Opening Scene

Both of these films are critically acclaimed, cast famous actors, and are on many movie critics’ lists of classic crime movies. Upon closer analysis, however, note that each film’s opening sequence is almost identical to the other’s. Open with a violent explosion followed by an off-screen monologue from a gangster explaining the events of the film to come. The opening scenes are told through flashback. Both movies are even inspired from books by the same author – Nicholas Pileggi. It’s almost like the movie industry saw Scorsese’s success with Goodfellas and decided to churn out a second movie and recreate a hit for profit.

Is this example too convenient? Ok, let’s look at The Departed.

The Departed Opening Scene

Another Scorsese film that won on Oscar for best picture. Opening scene also depicts gangster violence, this time from the Irish Mafia rather than the Italian Mafia. Still using an opening monologue from a gangster, still describing events to come.

Analysis of Scorsese’s filmmaking style reveals the director tackles the basic challenge of storytelling with a similar strategy across his body of work. This analysis also demonstrates that storytelling, and in this case filmmaking, is still a formulaic and repetitive process. There must be a psychologically defined character at the beginning of a movie in order to draw in an audience. There must be some on-screen action in order to excite us. In other words, there must be a pattern that gets repeated.

Now let’s look at this Epic Volkswagon Commercial

Woah.

This is an ad? This is one of the most compelling series of visuals I’ve ever seen. For a minute and a half, I haven’t seen a single image of a car, but instead a compelling series of shadow puppets dancing across the screen. It’s fresh, original, unlike any other car commercial I’ve ever seen – but that’s probably the point of the ad. Create an advertisement that feels unique in order to distinguish Volkswagon from other car companies using the tagline “hand-crafted: it’s amazing what hands can do”. This artistic statement only serves as a means of product differentiation.

The purpose of the comparison between so-called “Art” and a commercial is to demonstrate that all media requires repetition. As a media student, I’ve learned that any piece of visual media needs to use some repetitive pattern in order to make sense to its audience. Therefore, “Art” can’t be entirely original or unique, it has to draw on some formula or repetition, otherwise it won’t connect with its audience.

So what is that inimitable quality that elevates a piece of media to the rank of “Art”? What gives it that wow factor?

I would argue, based on what we’ve learned from this analysis, that “Art” is…a breath of fresh air. A way of looking at the patterns and routines of our lives and presenting them to us in a way we haven’t thought about before, in a way that feels unique.

Scorsese may be using a formula for storytelling, but every time, he picks a unique character, a unique setting, and a unique way to tell the story that excites us and compels us to keep watching even though we know how all crime movies end.

And even though we know we’re about to watch a car commercial, Volkswagon surprises us with an original, emotionally involved look at what distinguishes their cars from the competition.

In both cases, what excites us about both the films and the advertisement is that “wow” factor, that breath of fresh air that leaves us reeling, awed by that fresh perspective into our daily routine.

I invite you, my readers, to follow me on my quest to find breaths of fresh air in the routine of my senior year, as I attempt to become an artist myself.