Ashes and Snow`
17 ratings since posting on Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Overall Rating  based on 17 ratings |
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Its the most touching and consouling art work i have seen in a long time. I am a very emtional person so tearing up looking art was very easy. I am very curious to meet the artist in person and ask a million questions. How did this come to u? what inspired u? And i could go on... Thanks for touching my heart. - Asha , posted 08/31/06 |
 I went the last weekend and waited an hour to get in. It was worth it. The interaction between the humans and animals was well arranged and shot. Some of the more new agey moments with the voiceover and the dancing with the elephants got to be a little too much. But, on the whole a stunning photography show/video installation. - treiops , posted 05/16/06 |
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Unsu...
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Loved the dreamlike quality of it, the calmness of the animals and people in one another's presence, the underlying theme of humanity being part of nature and being capable of existing peacefully within it. Makes me sad that all some people saw were screen savers and that they have to project their own racism on to the artist (but maybe I'm wrong, maybe using local performers in a piece like this is racist somehow...someone still has to explain that one to me, though). I thought it was quite beautiful. Then again, I didn't go in expecting "high art"...I really didn't know what to expect. If you missed it...I'm sure it will be back. Or they have an evil website where you can probably order the DVD and download the screen savers. :) - Unsubscribed , posted 05/16/06 |
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Amazing photographs, and amazing video. Trying to capture composed imagery is hard enough without live subjects, but when you add the animals involved in the video, the shots are just astounding simply in the fact that in this digital age, the photographs are real - josh , posted 05/15/06 |
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Seem to me the key to taking in the beauty of this exhibition. There is plenty to be learned and considered in Colbert's work. Seem like a lot of jaded minds and hearts around these parts; speaks more to me about what people didn't get, rather than what was "wrong" with the exhibition. People will see what they want to, and people get what they want to get. - डर्शन् , posted 05/14/06 |
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Wow. (insert heavy sigh of compassion here for those who weren't able to unwrap their intellectualism for a few brief moments and just appreciate that someone put their heart and soul and time and work into creating a piece of beauty meant for your enjoyment.) I just enjoyed it for what it was...animals (wild or not), photography, humans portraying an attempt to communicate (whether they did or not), and alot of spectators standing around observing in awe. For me, in those moments, that simplicity alone, was beautiful. - LynnSane , posted 05/14/06 |
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Sorry, but I had to create a phony account to participate in this discussion. I certainly understand the criticism of the show. It was contrived and when looked at from the perspective of human animal relations and cute people with dark skin hanging out with tamed animals. On the other hand, my viewpoint of it was far different. I saw the entire show as being an initiatory/shamanic experience. Note that nearly all the people had their eyes closed. Meditating or dreaming. The animals then became their shamanic totems. Their interactions with the animals was their interaction with spirit. It was like a visualized dream, showing not only the 3D world human animal potential (of course and quite obviously all of the animals used except the croc and the wild dogs were semi-domesticated), but the deeper dream-time symbology of totemic animals in the dream world. This intention became quite apparent to me in the scenes with the African Elder. Certainly, with the child, performing what seemed to be blessing, initiation, and transmission of Love. The structure, an integral part of the exhibit, was church-like. The music was world/spiritual music. I was there on a very crowded afternoon. I not only watched the show, I watched the hundreds of people who were there watching the show. I saw deep love, gratitude and even awe on the faces of people for whom I would not hesitate to guess that these emotions were not common at all. In that way it succeeded as art in it's highest form. People who might have been in there wearing their Calvin Klein perfume were, if only temporarily, taken into the realm of Spirit. Were they aware of this? It doesn't matter. I saw hearts being opened in a most beautiful way. Was it perfect? Of course not. Some of it, I'm thinking of the movie with the animals in the boats, was so contrived and the animals were so uncomfortable that it was almost comical. But as a whole experience, it was for me a great success. I left, walked around the beach for a while, then returned again. One friend of mine, the one whose opinion actually got me to go, likened it to going to church, or in her words: being in the heart of God". Few artists get there. I give great appreciation and respect to Colbert for not only trying to do so, but in many ways and in many depths, succeeding. - Richard , posted 05/12/06 |
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the space is gorgeous. however the art work romanticizes some notion of animal and humans living in harmony and it's such utter bullshit. i found the theme irritating at best. - diana , posted 05/12/06 |
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I've been reading the comments, and I have to say what I loved about this exhibit is that it is genuinely original. It's not another copycat burning man art installation. It's a vision this guy and his team worked a long time on. Is it 'realistic' art? Maybe not. Is it 'life changing' art? Maybe not. But he creates a space and has created something on a large scale that will cause even the most jaded of career people to maybe *think* for a moment about something like meditation. - wyoming , posted 05/12/06 |
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I agree that it's worth seeing if you have the time and inclination, but it is NOT a must see thing at all. When I attended with a friend I said that the films would make great screen savers. They are at times quite beautiful screen savers. Sure enough when you walk out to the store to buy souvenirs they have screen saver cds for sale. - Hå®ø£d , posted 05/12/06 |
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pretty trope-tastic, for sure. and how DARE I say that the king is naked! - Dance Commander , posted 05/17/06 |
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I've heard different opinions about the legitimacy of the work, but that didn't stop it from being an incredible show to experience. It's definitely worth a look. - Rainey , posted 05/12/06 |
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is it worth seeing? absolutely. is it good art, no. in fact it is one of the most egotistical presentations that I have ever seen, but having said that, there are moments that are extremely beautiful and are more or less honest, but most of it is essentially about the ego of the 'artist' and not about the subject at hand, presumably the whole 'noble savage' view of the world, i.e. though civilization we have lost our ability to fully integrate with the natural world, bla bla bla, and ironically enough, in the scenes where there is a kind of slow motion underwater ballet between a performer and several whales and mantes, it is pretty sublime precisely that you experience a real communication between the performer and the animals. elsewhere in the exhibition, the human beings are not much more than beautiful props, and as such they are not that more interesting than the Japanese paper the images were printed upon. and the true irony of what I just wrote is that I later found out that the underwater performer is the 'artist' colbert. when it comes down to it, the whole exhibition is pretty great design; the whole thing: the building, the films, the music, the prints all have a kind of extreme sensuality to them and each object is completely filled with the 'intention' of the 'artist' who seems more interested in playing a kind of imagistic god, manipulating each frame in such a way that you are constantly aware of the progenitor of the image. and as such it comes off as pretentious artwork about a singular ego. and too bad it doesn't really mean anything, too bad that it's empty. interestingly enough, the more I saw, the more empty it felt. if this was part of a larger narrative (say a david lynch film) then I would have thought it was great... I spoke to a friend of mine who worked on it (he is also a music editor) and I said I thought it was beautiful and completely bereft of meaning and he said that I got it quicker than most, and they usually end up hurting themselves trying to figure it out. for what it's worth, I did buy the catalog since some of the images are pretty interesting and worth looking at again. - v o r d o , posted 05/12/06 |
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it all seemed like a really long calvin klein perfumes commercial. "wild" animals, and exotic looking people in beautiful locations. and the people don't really interact with the animals. it's more like performance art than actual interaction. pretty but without soul. -  blue
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posted 05/12/06
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i couldn't even begin to describe it. i was in heaven, seriously. - jordan , posted 05/12/06 |
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Yes, go see it before it ends, or you'll regret it! "and the people don't really interact with the animals. it's more like performance art than actual interaction. " Yeah and after you drop yourself in the leopard paddocks I will definitely pay to see your posthumous show... - j3r3my. , posted 05/12/06 |
