MovieChat Forums > Tim's Vermeer (2014) Discussion > CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN ART AND SCIENCE

CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN ART AND SCIENCE

posted 10 years ago by awelshmancymru
3 replies | jump to latest

It’s hard not to love Penn & Teller. For decades their shows and commentaries have been hugely entertaining. As such I always take note when they are working on a new project and ensure I make a point of watching/reading it.

In this case they’ve created an impressive documentary about a friend who will go to extreme lengths to explore his passions and to try to prove a theory about how Johannes Vermeer was able to paint in a way that was unlike any of this contemporaries.

His theory is that Vermeer used optical devices of his own design to develop a unique process which was able to capture light to an extent never before seen, and that would rival many cameras that were still centuries away from invention.

To support his case Tim Jenison sets about building a similar device and recreating one of Vermeer’s most famous paintings in his own LA workshop.

What follows is the painstaking process over many months of Jenison trying to create his reproduction, and in doing so is able to reflect on the nature genius, obsession, and perhaps most interestingly, the false post-enlightenment divide between art and science.

And it is in this final point that the influence of, and relevance to, Penn & Teller’s work becomes most obvious.

Yet because of this connection I am unsurprised that several reviewers have questioned whether the whole film is a hoax. Personally, I doubt it. This is simply because Penn & Teller have traditionally been extremely open about when they are preforming a trick and when their are being honest. As such I don’t suffer from the same level of uncertainty which I would were this film made by someone like Derren Brown or David Blaine.

To sum up, Tim’s Vermeer is well worth a watch as it manages to be hugely entertaining despite the fact that for the majority you are genuinely watching paint dry.

NEW AND FULL REVIEWS: http://awelshmansblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/friday-film-review-no-2 8-tims-vermeer-2013/

[–] jab670 10 years ago

Great review. It seems like you really get the film. So many people have bashed it because they see it as a threat for some reason or misunderstand Tim's mission. But I think artists should be inspired by what Tim did. He proved that artists aren't just hippies that slap paint on a canvas or turn a toilet upside down and call it "art." But that artists are natural innovators and problem solvers who find a way to convey their thoughts into something tangible. This film shows that art is not an accident, even when it might be accidentally created. Artists are perceptive and by studying the means of which they invent, you can truly appreciate their genius. Perhaps some people just get jealous that such a simple solution as, for example, the small mirror in the film, used by the right person - who was perceptive to realize its potential - could impact art and the world.

[–] foghillcafe 10 years ago

The thing is that people dont seem to get is that art and science were closely linked at the time. You know Leonard the Vinci, Michelangelo, architects, inventors, sculptors, paintors, not sure why its so hard to believe that this could be the case. It still took a massive amount of energy to paint this and do the composition.

[–] altbob 9 years ago

The principle take away is that art and science are really two sides of the same coin. Or as is sometimes said, art is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Watching Tim spend about 6 months sweat the details of The Music Lesson made my neck and back ache in empathy.