The Stanley Kubrick Exhibition (Design Museum)

 ART AND FILM

I have been visiting a lot of art galleries and exhibitions recently for art history. However, this exhibition at the Design Museum is one that I have been waiting for and excited about for weeks. I think the line between art and film is fascinating. Film is often inspired by older forms of art (i.e. paintings) and I was interested to see how the exhibition would be curated (and what would be shown within it). 

The exhibition provided insight into his career as a filmmaker and I think it effectively displayed a balance of video and objects. The entrance was a series of screens displaying clips from various Kubrick films. It was almost like a portal transporting the viewer into his life.  

The first section was dedicated to his overall career. His Oscar was displayed — I was a little starstruck seeing one in person. There were also storyboards and photographs from scouting filming locations. The insight into his process made me a little giddy (as everything relating to filmmaking usually does). It is also interesting to think of the drawings and photographs as art. They represent a narrative and took artistic skill to create. Does exhibiting them in a museum make them art? Are the objects capable of standing alone (without the context of the film)? 

On the wall in the first room was a display of posters from Kubrick's different films (see below). Again, it is interesting to think of these as art objects. They have been designed to be visually appealing and capture the attention of the viewer. They are a marketing device; they are intended to make the viewer remember the name of the film and encourage them to watch it. However, does their commercial purpose mean they are not art? There on the wall they were displayed like paintings, not advertisements.

Lastly, the room also included old editing and filming equipment. I would love to do more research into the cameras.

My one complaint about the exhibition is from this first section: it was overcrowded with information and objects. The museum was strict about visiting times and limiting the number of viewers entering at a given time; however, the opening room created a bottleneck effect. We had to wait in queues for several minutes to see each object. Fortunately, the crowd dispersed as the exhibition unfolded. 

After the first room, the following sections were divided by film. Each section had a colour (which the walls were painted) and a banner marking the film. For each film there was a screen with clips from it, drawings from the storyboard, and props or models. The Lolita area had letters between Kubrick and Nabokov and photographs of Sue Lyon. The Shining section had a model maze and axe props. The A Clockwork Orange segment was decorated with dummies from the movie.

I have never seen any of Kubrick's films — something that needs to be rectified. I would especially love to see Lolita, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Barry Lyndon would also be thought-provoking to watch from an art angle: the fashion and shots seem inspired by traditional portraiture. 

Clearly I have a lot of research to watch, so I will leave things here. If you haven't seen the exhibition, I highly recommend it. 

-Emma