There is one more week to donate to Art21’s first-ever Online Fundraising Drive and be entered to win Art21 DVDs and books! Donate today at Art21.org/donate or the Art21 Facebook Cause to support the production of our TV series, education materials, and extensive Public Programs.
As an organization without a physical exhibition space, Art21 welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with museums, schools, libraries, and other community organizations on public screenings of Art:21. Wherever possible, we like to pair screenings with discussions, and thanks to our new blog, we have been able to share several of these with you during the past few months.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading excerpts from our series of events at the New York Public Library this winter, most recently the interview with video artist and Art21 Consulting Director, Charles Atlas.
Charles Atlas’ work on Art:21 is representative of our approach: we collaborate with extremely talented individuals to help create our films and programs. In a conversation last fall, the artist spoke about his work on the series:
We really try to honor the people that have been chosen for the series.
I’ve had a long experience in television, and when I’m making something for television, I think about how it’s going to be received, in the same way when I’m making something for a gallery, I think about that context.
What we’re making is 13 minute portraits of artists and their work. This is the primary subject, and the subject is much more important than the forum. Things that you might do in a 13-minute [art] piece that would seem to be fun or interesting wouldn’t necessarily serve the art.
We make variations on the 13 minute documentary. The artists speak for themselves mostly and I try to break down a little bit of the opaqueness. Some of what we actually shoot is quite difficult, so we try to make it clearer without changing the meaning.
In the coming months we will be offering additional excerpts from Art21 Public Programs on our blog and keeping you informed of upcoming Art21 programs nationwide. Donate to Art21 at Art21.org/donate or the Art21 Facebook Cause today to help make this possible!
All those who donate $10 or more to Art21 by Friday, June 20, 2008 will be entered to win Art21 DVDs and books. Read here for details.
