Xu Bing: Phoenix
Short Films
•
17m
Directed by Daniel Traub • Documentary • 2013 • 17 minutes
"Drawing inspiration from the contemporary realities of his fast-changing country, Chinese artist Xu Bing spent two years creating his newest work, Phoenix. The installation features two monumental birds fabricated entirely from materials harvested from construction sites in urban China, including demolition debris, steel beams, tools, and remnants of the daily lives of migrant laborers. At once fierce and strangely beautiful, the mythic Phoenixes bear witness to the complex interconnection between labor, history, commercial development, and the rapid accumulation of wealth in today's China." —MASS MoCA
The film Xu Bing: Phoenix documents the process of creating the work through to its installation at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA).
Up Next in Short Films
-
Guernica
Directed by Alain Resnais and Robert Hessens • Documentary • 1949 • 14 minutes
In 1937, Spanish nationalists called on Nazi and Italian Fascist forces to bomb the Basque town of Guernica. The horrors of the bombing led Pablo Picasso to create perhaps his greatest work, “Guernica”: a massive pain...
-
Van Gogh
Directed by Alain Resnais • Documentary • 1948 • 18 minutes
Classic French New Wave director Alain Resnais’ early film, VAN GOGH won an Oscar for best short documentary film. Recently restored, this 1948 boundary-pushing short brilliantly evokes the life of Vincent Van Gogh, using only his paint...
-
A Tribute to Malcolm X
Directed by Madeline Anderson • Documentary • 1967 • 16 minutes
Made for the William Greaves-produced WNET program Black Journal, A TRIBUTE TO MALCOLM X includes an interview with Malcolm X’s widow Dr. Betty Shabazz, shortly after his 1965 assassination.
Courtesy of THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS, LLC an...
