It is not
exactly a foreign concept to any of us,that of the artist recognized only
posthumously. Such was the life of Vivian Maier – she lived as a nanny and a
recluse for most of her life and it is
only recently that her life’s work – tens of thousands of photographs
are recognized as true works of art. Now they fetch thousands of dollars and
she is recognized as one of the true original artists of our time.
The kicker?
Maier was not a struggling artist per se. She never tried to get her pictures
published. Sometimes she never even looked at them – hundreds of rolls of film
she had taken were discovered undeveloped, their contents seen but once, by
Maier, as she took the pictures. In her old age she was a hoarder and an
eccentric and her lack of funds meant that she had to stop taking pictures
around the ‘80s, most of her income being eaten up by storage costs. The
tragedy being that the only way she was recognized as an artist was when she
could no longer keep up the payment for her storage container and the contents
needed to be sold. Even after her “discovery” well into her old age, Maier
continued to be a recluse and what we know about her is infuriatingly sketchy
and piecemeal. The only clues we do have about who she truly was are in fact,
what she chose to capture with her camera.
Well this
documentary is an eye-opener. It is, in my mind, the clearest indicator of what
separates the true artist from the amateur. Or rather the spirit of the artist
from the spirit of the amateur. Because the artist is COMPELLED to create
whatever it is his talents lead them to create. I am not about to advocate
the whole “art for art’s sake” movement in its entirety mind you. I fully
believe that some works can be too pretentious and depending on the medium and
genre of course, the interaction with the audience is a very important point to
consider especially if you are trying to become more commercial as an artist. But
this is another component to the work. It is not about how you hone and present
it. It is the moment of its inception, its birth. There is almost a
subconscious tug on the artist to create and to create in a certain way and the
results come pouring out of one, regardless of whether others get to see it or
not. Then of course comes the whole discussion of whether art is indded art
with no audience. And there’s the whole parable that you can’t call yourself an
artist unless you have been paid for your art. It has to be admitted that the
fact that Maier hoarded her life’s work instead of sharing it with the word does
constitute an argument against her. Or at least raises questions. The concept of
the reclusive artist living in his/her world save for the output of her/his
artistic endeavors is not an alien concept in the slightest. Think of directors
like Terrance Malik for instance who haven’t given an interview in years and
are yet venerated by the industry (although he does tend to divide audiences
slightly. I have had long drunken arguments about whether Malik is pretentious
or brilliant at parties. I claim he’s brilliant by the way ). The need to hide
your works is one I do not get. Well, I do in a sense. Creating anything, be it
a film review, an abstract painting, a photograph or a story is a very personal
affair. It means taking out a little piece of your soul, your being and laying
it bare for all to see. Photography is a strange one when it comes to that. Especially
the kind of street photography Maier invested in. It consists of observing life
closely and knowing that ephemeral moment that captures the essence of the
subject and preserving it, in theory for all eternity. So you would be
presenting slices of your own life. Because even if you are the observer, you
are there. You are part of it (and from this of course, the importance of the
audience). So a person who was almost pathologically private and secretive like
Maier would find it difficult to let in an audience. After all, even in life
she chose to be the audience, the observer, she is rarely “part” of the photos.
We are, as the documentary points out, deprived of that telling clue that would
have been provided by the results of her editing, i.e. what she would have
CHOSEN to represent her to the world. But instead we are just left with her
vision which we must make of what we will.
In the same
way that Maier’s unassuming, dusty suitcases gave birth to the thousands of
undiscovered works of art, this unassuming little documentary gives birth to
thousands of thoughts and potential discussions on the nature of art and the
artist. And it is one of the quirks of our universe that Maier could have
started such a (potential) argument without having ever said a word…
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