"The Work Without a Master" is a literary and artistic film, an unpretentious literary and artistic film. The 3-hour, 9-minute film is based on Gerhard Richter, Germany's most famous modern artist still alive, and tells the story of the protagonist (Kurt) from infancy to adulthood, from art to fame. While archetypal artist Gerhard Richter was unhappy with the film's adaptation, this film is undoubtedly the most perfect and moving of any film I've ever seen about art.
Works by Gerhard Richter
It is a film with a biographical theme and a film with historical themes; it is a film with political themes and a film with artistic themes; it is a secular film and a literary and artistic film. The film consists of four chapters: The first chapter is Kurt's childhood experience in Nazi Germany; the second chapter is Kurt's artistic learning experience in the GDR; the third chapter is Kurt's artistic experience in the Federal Republic of Germany; and the fourth chapter is Kurt's famous painting exhibition experience in the Federal Republic of Germany. Kurt's people are wrapped up in history like everyone else and mercilessly swallowed up by history. Following the history, chapter after chapter transitions subtly, each transition is full of historical involvement and dramatic transitions.
Kurt as a child in Nazi Germany
Kurt of the GDR
Kurt of the Federal Republic of Germany
In order not to affect the actual reader's perception of the movie, the plot of the movie is not revealed too much here. Because the film itself explores a lot, as a viewer, I can't get a glimpse of its whole leopard, only to talk about one topic in this article: what is art?
As a non-art learner and non-art worker, I should not have been able to delve into such a profound topic, after all, the art world has not yet reached a consensus on the definition of art. I only listed the different film characters in the film who had different views on art at different times.
In the first chapter of the film, the young Kurt follows his aunt to the art gallery to see a painting exhibition, and the museum's docent publishes this assessment of art: "Modern art, before the National Socialists came to power, there was indeed such a kind of art in Germany, just like the word itself, there are new changes almost every year. But National Socialist Germany wanted to welcome back German art, as it should have been, and it would have been, to allow eternity to all that is creative in a nation. If they do not have eternal values that embody our nation, they will not have higher values now. We assume that artists may say that this is their experience, and there are only two possibilities: either what these so-called artists see is really what they see, and therefore believe that what they are depicting is exactly what they are depicting, then they have to check their eyes, whether there is something wrong with an accident, or because of heredity; or they themselves do not believe in this feeling in reality, but for another reason, harass our country with this kind of foolish means, and then they will be sent to trial court.
In the second chapter of the film, Kurt takes a painting course in the stepped classroom of the GDR Art School, and Kurt's teacher, Priestsor Horst Grimma, at the end of class, makes a sober statement to the students present: When you paint, you must put aside all glitz and self-appreciation, devote yourself to your career, serve the people, cultivate your behavior, cultivate your skills, and the real art will naturally come through you. Picasso had been a very realistic painter, showing very clearly what the working class had come together as a whole, but he soon degenerated into a decadent, shameless formalist. Why? Because he wants to be an innovator, not a traditionalist. Innovation, independent creativity, artistic freedom, to an artist, these words sound very appealing to an artist – "I, I, I". Modern artists can only attain true freedom if they throw themselves into the interests of the people, and if they are filled with "me, me, me", it will only lead to tragedy. Encountering the depraved rich collectors is the mildest thing that can be tolerated, pleasing the exploiters of the workers and making them feel above the people, which is not a work of art at all. Decay, mysticism, spring palace diagrams, nothingness, artificial design drawings, spots, lines, spheres, vertebrae, all of them, are they just for the so-called innovation? Yes, it's innovative, but it's wrong, and it's conceited, stupid, undemocratic, and depraved.
In the third chapter of the film, Kurt takes a painting course in the stepped classroom of the GDR Art School, and Kurt's teacher Professor Antonius van Verten heuristically consults the students present in the class and makes this statement: CDU, LDP, which one will you choose? Don't choose anything, never choose a political party, choose art. They are fish and bear paws, and only in art is freedom not an illusion, and only artists can regain the sense of their quest for freedom after this catastrophe. Everyone, whether he is a garbage collector or a farmer, has the opportunity to become an artist, when he can display his subjective abilities at will. If you have no freedom, no complete freedom, then neither is anyone. When you set yourself free, you also free the world, you are priests, you are revolutionaries, you are liberators.
In the fourth chapter of the film, Kurt is interviewed by reporters in his exhibition, and he says: True, harmonious, only the real is harmonious, every real content is harmonious, everything that is true is beautiful. I read out a few random numbers, which were silly and meaningless. But if these six numbers are lottery numbers, then they have meaning, unity, value, and even beauty. The same is true of the photos, I want the truth, random choice of pictorial photos, automatic camera photo id photos, arbitrary life photos in family photo albums, all of which are vaguely copied out, these photos have an indescribable real power.
Art will have different definitions at different times, in different political systems, in different ideologies. Good art may be worthless in one era and valuable in another; it may be in the limelight of one polity and may be pointed out in another; it may be highly sought after in this ideology and despised in another. So what exactly is art itself? This is a question that is too difficult to answer.
But the answer is that art itself is philosophy, a reflection of the philosophy of survival, a precursor to the philosophy of the future. The art of Romanticism, Realism, Modernism and Postmodernism is not just the art carrier itself, but the combination of the art carrier and the philosophy of art, and the projection of philosophical understanding on the artistic carrier. Just like the interpretation of the lottery number in the movie, reading out a few random numbers is meaningless in itself, but if the numbers read out happen to be the winning numbers issued by the lottery, the numbers in these numbers suddenly become real, convincing, beautiful and moving. Art is skill, but it goes beyond the craft itself. Techniques without philosophical blessings are merely mechanically repetitive. Probably no one thinks that the thousands of "Mona Lisa", "Sunrise", "Sunflower" and "Girl with Pearl Earrings" paintings in Dafen Village are artistic creations, that is just a mechanical fabrication.
Many people today cannot understand contemporary art, postmodern art, performance art, and installation art. In fact, as a viewer, we cannot understand the corresponding philosophies in these arts. The artistic carrier is no longer important, what is important is the philosophy that the creator wants to express under the surface of the carrier.
Whether you are a brick mover, a tramp, a migrant worker, or a farmer, when you can freely display your subjective abilities, you have the opportunity to become an artist. Today's Internet, APP such as Toutiao, Douyin, Kuaishou, and WeChat are giving everyone more opportunities and space for expression. If you have an idea, why not express and play freely?