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Portland based video artist Matthew McCormick made a film entitled The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal. It is at once a parody of art criticism, a celebration of unplanned beauty, and an elegant work in its own right. A female narrator draws us across lyrical scenes of Portland, OR's seedier neighborhood, focusing on the enigmatic ghostly shapes of graffiti that has been painted over in the dubious quest to beautify our cities. Of course, the colors chosen never match the rest of the wall, so we are left with striking accidental abstract-expressionist compositions where before we had only some boring tag. The narration is satirical at points ("More money is spent on graffiti removal than upon any other art form"), but for the most part seems to take seriously the idea that the work of anti-vandalism departments is in fact an exciting subconscious art movement, one that is an unwitting collaboration between taggers, legislators, and over-worked city employees. The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal is, finally, a beautiful work in its own right, a poetic consideration of the grace of the urban landscape, cocconed in the womblike 220 hum that drenches the soundtrack.
So, I thought I'd throw a capsule review out there, in case any of you have access to interesting film, or see his work on a festival bill or something. Also, I wanted to ask if there were any interesting thoughs about subconscious arts.
A Glass of papaya juice and back to work |
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