In this short film Adoration of Art, I captured individuals and crowds looking at famous works of Western art in the world’s most popular museums. While looking at the “Adoration,” viewers are confronted with the act of looking itself and the social complexities of seeing and being seen.
Furthermore, the adoration of art exposes the juxtaposition of contemporary tourists viewing the paintings raises the question about the idea of time. Finally, the video asks what conclusions can be drawn about the spectator viewing the video, far removed from the work of art, from that of the others in the video content itself viewing the paintings in museums? Adoration of Art makes no attempt to criticizes the actions of the viewer for we too looking at the film looking at the viewer looking at the art is itself unlocking the need to connect to the paintings.
Adoration of Art
It still boggles my mind that people feel the need to capture every moment on their phones without really absorbing the famous art creations in front of them. I get it if you want something as a reminder of some detail or fact but generally speaking most people never look at their videos again. The works are stunning, but we know that there is so much more to see.
A single painting can evoke imagery and transform a person into a different world, that even a thousand photographs or videos can not. In the film Adoration of Art, it is interesting to see how little we humans have changed in what we as a generalized species idealize as beauty. At the very least art shows humanity and its incredible talent.
Featured paintings in the film
The Blue Boy
Artist: Thomas Gainsborough
Location: Huntington Library
Created: 1779
The Little Street
Artist: Johannes Vermeer
Location: Rijksmuseum
Created: 1657–1658
View of Toledo
Artist: El Greco
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Created: 1596–1600
Pearblossom Hwy., 11 – 18th April 1986, #2
Artist: David Hockney
Location: The J. Paul Getty Museum
Created: April 11-18, 1986
The Night Watch
Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
Location: Amsterdam Museum, Rijksmuseum
Created: 1642
Filmed by: Alexander Westerman
Composer: Joshua Winget
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