Have you ever stood in an art gallery, thought of a vacuum cleaner, and wondered if it was art or if the maintenance crew just forgot to clean it up? I love this feeling. To me, art is something that makes us re-evaluate everything we think we know about the world. But it highlights how tricky and capricious art judging can be. This is an issue that is also addressed in “Art Talent Show.”
Directed by Tomas Bojar and Adela Komrzy, “Art Talent Show” (opening in theaters this week) follows the stories of hopefuls applying to the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, the oldest art college in the Czech Republic. When the film was submitted to film festivals, it drew comparisons to Frederick Wiseman's films. It is a patient and witty observational portrait of an institution that invites the audience to draw conclusions about the ultimate theme. The subjects of this case are young artists who are taking the difficult entrance exam. This includes being grilled by faculty who sometimes seem to be just a little bit playful, whether it's provoking a student to say that smoking can be good for the environment because it kills humans, or challenging their views on the art market.
Teachers are not die-hard traditionalists, but they are of different generations from their students. This means that conversations about gender and sexuality, commodification, and what is considered truly provocative are all part of the film. However, the film smartly places the entire process within the larger institution, with the receptionist in the lobby balancing out all the artistry within.
“Art Talent Show” is provocative in itself but also entertaining. It is a tribute and a tribute to the complexity of modern art. It reminded me of another favorite documentary: “The Competition” by Claire Simon (2016, streaming on Metrograph at Home). The film tells the story of aspiring filmmakers hoping to gain admission to La Fémis, a prestigious school in Paris. They also face a panel of faculty who ask them about their views and aspirations, and the results are equally revealing.
Obviously these two movies made me very glad I graduated from school a long time ago. But what I loved most was the way it illuminated complex attitudes about the relationship between identity, craft and art, even in a very progressive context, and how fun it was to watch.