The Cardboard Bernini
My current project "The Cardboard Bernini," will examine the work and life of artist James Grashow as he builds a giant cardboard fountain inspired by the work of the famous Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
James Grashow is an artist who has built—among many other things-- giant fighting men, a city, and an ocean-- using paper mache, fabric, chicken wire and cardboard. More recently, he has begun making sculptures entirely out of corrugated cardboard and twist ties.
Several years ago, while visiting the home of his art dealer, Allan Stone (who was also my father), he stumbled across some of his giant fighting men that had been put outside due to lack of space. They were disintegrating. Although it was deeply painful and shocking for Jimmy to see his work like that, it was also surprisingly beautiful. Jimmy felt that he was seeing the full arc of his artistic enterprise before him—including its end.
So, he challenged himself to embrace the “end part” of his process, and decided to build a giant cardboard “fountain.” Inspired by the Italian sculptor Bernini, he decided the piece would ultimately be installed outside to let disintegrate. Work on the fountain began in 2007. I have been following him from the start.
The completed fountain premiered June 11, 2010 at the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia to great acclaim. It is currently on view at the Allan Stone Gallery in New York City, where it will remain through April 24th. This will be the last "indoor" exhibit for the fountain, as Jimmy continues to look for the ideal venue for the dissolution of his cardboard masterpiece.
There are many questions I hope to explore in the film: will Jimmy be able to follow through with his plan? What is the point of art and creation? What is the connection between creation and destruction? Stay tuned for new developments.
