Resurrect Dead - Two quasi-hermits in Philadelphia
This is a great, great, great documentary about a local mystery. Someone in South Philly has been placing these strange markers in the street with a bizarre message about Resurrecting the Dead on Planet Jupiter, with references to Kubrik's 2001.
It's great because it explores the mystery from the perspective from another outsider, a local artist who is obsessed with solving the mystery of the person who is making these markings. It's definitely a hermit case like we were discussed at the meeting- a city dweller completely shut off, able to create a hermitage in a busy city.
Here's the official site:
http://www.resurrectdead.com/
There's a trailer there but if you have netflix you can watch the whole thing on Watch Instantly.
I watched this documentary recently! I found it fascinating. The person who put it on told me nothing about it, so for a while I thought it was fictional. The idea of someone leaving these nonsensical widespread tiles in the asphalt of city streets was so absurd to me I thought someone had come up with a stellar idea for a fake documentary.
ReplyDeletePart of the way through I figured out it was real. It's interesting how the documentary feels like it ends with little closure, because they are unable to arrange the meeting with the Toynbee Tile man. I think this indicates the way we have a difficult time appreciating a work without connecting it to the creator of the work. Hermit authors are unpalatable to us--we want book signings, interviews. Somehow, these tiles are vexing without an explanation from the mouth of the man who set them. The mystery gets under our skin.
Can hermits make art without being burdened by their audience's expectations? This is a relevant question for the post about the blogging hermit as well.