The first, How to Draw a Bunny was fascinating, inspiring and hilarious. It was about Ray Johnson, a contemporary of Chuck Close, the Lichtensteins and Christo, among others, who didn't quite achieve the same level of fame that they all did. He was quite a character who had a very interesting sales approach. His output was impressive for its sheer volume. And although I suspect I would have found him more than a little obnoxious in real life, he is one of those people who leaves everyone he meets with a crazy story to tell, and therefore is fascinating to hear about.
The second film was My Kid Could Paint That, the story of Marla Olmstead. She came on the national scene as a 4 year old abstract painter hailed as a genius. Her paintings quickly began selling for $8,000-25,000 apiece. While the documentary crew was working with the family, a piece was produced for 60 Minutes which called into question Marla's painting abilities. CBS wanted footage of a piece from start to completion and so a hidden camera was installed over her workspace. The resulting painting did not meet the same standards as her previous works, and caused people to wonder if she was being coached or if she was not responsible for the original paintings at all. Her star quickly fell.
Jeremy and I spent about an hour dissecting the film and the family's behaviors. It raised so many questions, like
- What is art?
- What is the value of art?
- What makes a prodigy?
- Is it fair to exploit a child with press tours and openings?
- If a parent did coach a child, would that diminish the value of the child's product?
- Why is that father not on some sort of medication for what is obviously an advanced case of crazy?
I highly recommend both of these films, Bunny for entertainment value, and My Kid for thought-provocation.
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