One of the highlights of the ART HK 10 was the multimedia installation, a collaborative work from Baz Luhrmann and artist Vincent Fantauzzo.
Luhrmann is an Australian-born director known for his Hollywood films such as Strictly Ballroom, Romeo+Juliette, Moulin Rouge and Australia. Fantauzzo is one of Australia’s most reputable artists who has won many awards for his works, including the prestigious Archibald Portrait Prize as well as a People’s Choice Award two years in a row.
Fantauzzo is also known as the artist who painted the portrait of Heath Ledger, who had a hand in hooking him up with Luhrmann. Since then, both have done some projects, film collaboration, a humanitarian project and recently an art installation titled The Creek, 1977.
The Creek, 1977, takes us into a pitch black chapel—not unlike a room from old black-and-white photographs from childhood memories plastered on two walls illuminated by flickering candles. At the end of the room hangs a large dramatic Caravaggio-inspired oil painting depicting a scene from a tragedy. It is a painting of an anonymous young male drifter who is being rescued from a car that has veered off a bridge. An audio clip from the crash plays in the background. The lights were beamed on the painting, forming a sequence of events.
“I am fascinated with how in classical art narrative is dealt with. The idea is inspired from Caravaggio’s religious painting in the 17th century, where the audience went into a dark room and contemplated a painting. And in that painting there is a story and narrative,” Luhrmann said.
He said that audience would have a cinematic experience over and over again — getting their own movie if you like.
“The Creek, 1977 is a set on the journey to the making of a film. It comes from a childhood memory of mine, growing up in the big northern coast of Australia. It’s not autobiographical but yes, I did have two brothers, I did grow up in a gas station and there is an accident every second night – car crashes. The imagery is in fact me in my life. They are my photographs,” he said.
Luhrmann said the final painting was the separation from memory into a myth. “So what you might get from the story is not autobiographical. When I see these religious paintings, they all have well-known stories that we can relate to. But they are heightened in an operatic way, the emotion is heightened and this is what we are trying to do,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Luhrmann said he always wanted to make a film based on childhood memories. “I always explore that. We were talking about a way to match the power of childhood memory and consider it religious imagery.
The idea is to do a series of images and this is the first of the series. The idea is very elaborate, we have shots, we have a cast and the woman in the picture is a well-known Australian actress. This is something that we have been talking about.” During the process, the artists combined both their expertise. From the reference imagery, Fantauzzo sketched and then realized the final artwork in traditional oil paint.
Fantauzzo, who was named artist of the year in 2008 by GQ magazine, said he had a great time collaborating with Baz Luhrmann.
“I think that is part of the beauty why we want to collaborate, because I have a strong interest in cinema
and film, and Baz in fine arts and visual media. We don’t think there should be any boundary in arts. So we thought: how can we do it? Baz has this story, script and idea,” he said.
The Creek, 1977 indeed has a haunting quality. Both artists successfully created a breathtaking two dimensional experience. “It is not a complete work. I know what I am looking for,” Luhrmann said.
After the project, one can be forgiven for thinking that the next step would be a feature film based on the exhibition. “It is the beginning of a process, where we see the exciting part and create a definition of what is coming next,” Fantauzzo said.
And the good news is that Luhrmann will make it into a movie. “Absolutely, I can’t get rid of the idea.
That’s my life. Unless there is an intervention from God, there will be a movie. In fact, even during this process, just talking about myself, I made leap in my mind and just today I have this kind revelation about something that should be in the film.”
The Creek, 1977 is available for viewing at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery in Hong Kong.
— Erza S.T.
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