Back in 2006 when MySpace was exploding, and everybody was learning to write basic HTML to personalize absolutely awful “homepages,” somebody sent me the first CG short film that left an impact on me. This is kind of an understatement to be honest. Fallen Art was more than just a cool thing that found me on the Internet.
While everybody was super blown away by the humor and smooth animation of the short, I was sitting in awe at the pure darkness that Bagiński was portraying in a matter of 5 minutes. I think that not knowing anything about CG animation at the time, or about the artist in any context whatsoever, I got to see a story that stretched well beyond the confines of those 5 minutes.
War is fucked up. Not knowing when things will end is fucked up. What humans do to each other in times of great pain is fucked up. Being an artist during times of great upheaval is fucked up. Trying to find meaning while society shames you for not conforming is fucked up. Humanity is utterly fucked up.
And so, we make and consume art, because we either need to express something, or we need something to express something to us long enough that we experience something novel. The best somethings are life changing, and make us find hope amidst all the aforementioned fucked upness.
The notion that there is a man somewhere in the depths of a very, very cold war, killing expendable soldiers that will die a meaningless death anyway, so he can make art that is representative of a cultural heritage of music and dance, for a crowd he may or may not even have one day… well it’s fucked up, and it’s beautifully poetic.
I love art like this because it is unapologetic for what it is doing. It’s probably because my fucked upness relates well to the fucked upness of others that can explore uncomfortable themes.
Have you been exploring any darker themed art lately?
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