A Brief History of John Baldessari

John Baldessari is an artist who is perhaps most famous for putting colored dots over the faces of subjects in photographs, although he has also done other things ranging from sculptures to text on canvas. This short film interviews and explores him as a man and an artist – sort of.

I say sort of because really the film does not do this so much as it is about itself. The film gives you lots of information about John Baldessari and shows you plenty of his work but the main thing you will take away from the short is not some nugget about the man but more of an impression about this film. Instead of being a regular documentary, this film whips through its subject with rapid editing, asides and a droll narration from Tom Waits; indeed Waits says way more words than John Baldessari does in the whole piece.

The effect is to make the subject engaging due to the playfulness of the delivery and how amusing it is. The editing and on-screen graphics give it an odd feel for what aspects it chooses to focus on regarding John Baldessari but the while was respectful but also playful towards John Baldessari. The energy of the film is a bit sapping and I am not sure the narration and editing would have worked in a longer film but in this short they function effectively together. The film really does nothing regarding exploring John Baldessari s a person or an artist since the delivery is about facts and humor, so I could understand if fans of the man John Baldessari did not enjoy the film or saw it as waste potential, however for the casual viewer it is engaging and fun with energetic narration and editing.