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loss
& desire & contemporary
art
How do contemporary artworks embody emotion? How do artists express
longing, love, and human experience in their work? The Art:21 documentary
“Loss & Desire” explores these questions through the work
of Charles Atlas, Collier
Schorr, Gabriel Orozco, and Janine
Antoni.
special features
See a slideshow of artworks showcased in the “Loss
& Desire” episode, watch a video preview of the show, or explore a slideshow
of artists from multiple seasons of Art:21 discussing the themes
of loss and desire in their work.
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episode synopsis: “loss & desire”
Thoughts and responses to themes of “Loss &
Desire” surface in many areas of our lives, from the philosophical
to the emotional. In this episode, specific works of art cause us
to contemplate issues such as war and peace; the loss of community
and the desire for connection; and the age-old human longing for
perfection. Filmed on location in New York, New York; West Point,
New York; Blair, New Jersey; Stuttgard, Germany; Paris, France;
Mexico; and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Created by Charles Atlas, the opening
for “Loss & Desire” begins with four-time Oscar-nominated actress Jane
Alexander seated before a mirror in a glamorous dressing room, reflecting
on the emotions that motivate some of the characters she has brought to life
on stage and screen.
Alexander
notes that as an actress this emotional range is “familiar territory.” Alexander
introduces the artists featured in the hour, commenting that they create works
that are “both personal and universal.” |
| VIDEO: |
Opening segment by Charles Atlas with Jane Alexander |
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| "Gender,
religion, nationality—they’re all sort of things that
are in flux in my work," comments Collier
Schorr, pointing
out the ambiguity that is so important to each image. Filmed taking
pictures
of a wrestling practice and match, Schorr captures the physical
exhaustion and camaraderie of her subjects. Shifting to the subject
of art history, Schorr's images of her male model and friend, Jens,
dramatize poses made by American painter Andrew Wyeth's female
model Helga. The segment ends in Germany where Schorr recreates
a fictionalized military occupation of the landscape, bringing
to the surface the personal histories buried and repressed by war. |
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| "I don’t have
a studio, so I don’t have a specific place of production," remarks
Gabriel Orozco. "What happens when
you don’t have a studio
is that you have to be confronted with reality all the time." The
segment follows Orozco as he creates situations with objects on
the street and
photographs them. Orozco's interest in logic, systems, and physics
is revealed in his series of games and in the dramatic "La
D.S."—a Citroën car split down the center and reassembled
to elongate its shape. "I tried to use the tools that everyone
can use," explains Orozco, commenting on his use of everyday
objects and his recent series of handmade clay shapes
and pots. |
| VIDEO: |
Game-based Sculptures |
| VIDEO: |
Clay Sculptures in France |
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| The third and final artist
in the hour is Janine
Antoni. Filmed weaving a rope out of materials donated by
friends and relatives, Antoni comments that the rope is like a "lifeline." The
artist is later shown walking a tightrope, preparing for the video "Touch" where
she appears to walk on the blue ocean horizon of her childhood
home in the Bahamas. Antoni's use of unusual sculptural materials
such as chocolate, soap, lard, and rawhide is explored as the artist
takes the viewer on a tour of a major exhibition at SITE Santa
Fe. "There are so many objects that...we’ve lost a connection
to what they’re made of, who made them," explains Antoni. |
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