Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind" is a movie and art installation at Deitch Projects.
Make your OWN movie.
February 16, 2008 — March 22, 2008
18 Wooster Street, New York
Be Kind Rewind,
an exhibition of new work by Michel Gondry, opens at Deitch Projects on
February 16, 2008, shortly before his identically titled film is
released in theaters.
Be Kind Rewind is a film about two childhood friends living in
Pasaic, New Jersey, trying to make ends meet. After one of the
characters accidentally gets his brain magnetized by trying to sabotage
a local power plant, he visits the video store his friend is taking
care of while the owner is away and unknowingly erases all of the video
tapes in the store’s inventory. The characters decide to make their own
homemade versions of popular films in a junkyard behind the store.
These new “sweded” films—recreations using commonly available, everyday
materials—prove more popular with the customers than the originals,
making the two friends local celebrities.
For the exhibition, Michel Gondry will be recreating the video
store in the gallery, complete with a back lot containing a variety of
movie sets where visitors can make their own renditions of films. All
videos created during the exhibition can be viewed in the gallery.
About the project, Gondry states, “I don’t intend nor have the
pretension to teach how to make films. Quite the contrary. I intend to
prove that people can enjoy their time without being part of the
commercial system and serving it. Ultimately, I am hoping to create a
network of creativity and communication that is guaranteed to be free
and independent from any commercial institution.”
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