Saturday, February 19, 2011
"Civilization" by Marco Brambilla is a video installation commissioned for the elevators of the Standard Hotel in New York City in 2008. Comprised of over 400 seemlessly-blended individual clips, it takes elevator passengers up to heaven as they ascend and down to hell when the elevator descends.
Marco Brambilla is a video artist and film director who was recently credited for being the first artist to make an art film using contemporary 3-D technology with his film "Evolution (Megaplex)," 2010. Born in Italy in 1960, Brambilla lives and works in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. In 1993, he directed Sylvester Stallone in Demolition Man but for more than ten years, Brambilla has focused on fine art photography and video. Major museums have presented his works including the Guggenheim Museum (New York), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the New Museum (New York).
We recommend you also check out his recent film"Power" from 2010. Inspired by Michaelangelo's frescos in the Sistine Chapel this video presents an allegory of decadence, excess and a lavish culture collapsing under the weight of massive greed and corruption. Kanye West, moving in slow motion, stars as the icon of Materialism.
You can learn more about Marco Brambilla at MarcoBrambilla.com or by visiting Christopher Grimes Gallery.
By Randy Gladman for The Ministry of Artistic Affairs
