Christopher Cairns says his sculpture transmits an impeding sense of disaster that is born out of his attitudes about modern life. Cairns, who relies heavily on music for inspiration, also notes, “The detachment of the contemporary culture from classical music and serious jazz is a disaster.” Regarding the value of friendship, Cairns says, “Part of being an artist is to try to find other people that you can share feelings and ideas with.”
Cairns’ sculpture is powerfully evocative and his sentiments about music and friendship in relationship to the visual artist’s life will be of interest to photographers. Although I can share all this about Cairns, I only know the artist through this five-minute video created by Richard Anderson. This speaks to the incredible storytelling power of documentary shorts. It is also reason to applaud Anderson for taking a great leap forward in his video-making pursuits.
Last month I reported that Anderson was just getting started in video by learning multimedia techniques by experimenting playfully. His latest creation, a personal project, proves that Anderson is getting great results — fast.
Check it out this video for inspiration from both Cairns and Anderson. Take particular note of how Anderson puts his photographer’s eye to excellent use. His framing of Cairns among his sculptures is fantastic and not typical of standard documentary interviews. And Anderson’s still images make wonderful b-roll that clearly reveal Cairns’ vision of impending disaster.
