Adam Curtis has been art-canonized in the United S. of A. @ e-flux 311 E Broadway (NYC):
Curtis' films read like fun collusion. There is something about their slickness, their ease of 'use', credit the mined found footage, helvetica overlays, soothing matter of fact narration, and quirk pop soundtracks.
It is hard not to empathize, to want his work to mark and brand history, appropriately. Coolly and culturally sound.
From an interview with Hans Olrich Obrist, published in efflux issue #32:
"I have this theory that you can take very complicated ideas, which are at the root of our present world, simplify them, make them entertaining and funny, yet still keep the essence of what they’re saying. That’s the fundamental thing I believe in. And I loathe the opposite view that you can’t do this without being complicated and obscure and talking as though to only a small, elite group."
They do their best to cast pivotal politics into relatable shapes. They create a retroactive blueprint; diagrams to encourage new cognizance for humanity. They are dire PSAs to help us understand how feeble we (people) are. How dichotomous. How we love our autonomy and hate our loneliness. How we try to fix the world and further fuck it up. Finally, a keen means to stare down the shame of being human.
Go to eflux check that out. Stay there for hours, sit on a pillow. 'til April 14.
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