I recently viewed Martin Scorsese’s amazing new film ‘Hugo’ (in 3-D, no less) and was struck by his masterful use of the most advanced film-making technologies such as computer-assisted graphics in the service of a children’s story about the early days and pioneers of cinema. Another popular new film along these retro lines is ‘The Artist’, a black-and-white silent film about black-and-white silent films, among other things. And be sure to check out Columbia Art League’s fascinating new exhibition “The Seven Deadly Sins (and the Seven Holy Virtues)” featuring brand new compositions on these most ancient of themes.
Is there an emerging trend here? In Atemporality in Action: Recreating Civil War-Era Tintype Photography, Atlantic magazine senior editor Alexis Madrigal writes about the “technological sublime” that comes from exploring the oldest photographic method, not the newest, while utilizing the most advanced materials and techniques (eg, videos) in the process. Do you agree with Madrigal that combining old techniques like tintype with new technologies allows art to be not just timely but timeless? How should modern art relate to The Past? Needless to say, a museum like ours representing human cultural evolution needs to know.
W. Arthur Mehrhoff, Ph.D., Academic Coordinator