Monk in Pieces (Documentary)
Director: Billy Shebar
Producer: Susan Margolin
Cinematographer: Ben Stechschulte,Jeff Hutchens
Featured Subjects: Lanny Harrison,Meredith Monk,Björk,John Schaefer,Julia Wolfe,Joanna Lynn-Jacobs,Ping Chong,David Byrne
A kaleidoscopic mosaic of the life and work of interdisciplinary New York artist Meredith Monk, best known for her otherworldly vocal technique.
When Meredith Monk sings, she doesn’t just sing. She yodels, laughs, gasps, growls, squawks and squeaks. Her often-wordless compositions use her voice like an entire orchestra to convey emotions, tell stories and travel through time – a quality that’s earned admiration from fellow artists Björk, David Byrne and composer Philip Glass. Emerging from the male-dominated downtown New York art scene of the 1960s and 70s, she triumphed over critics’ sexist condescension. But after six decades of directing and performing her own compositions, Monk must now learn to entrust her creations to the hands – and voices – of other artists if her work is to endure after she’s gone.
David C. Roberts and Billy Shebar’s documentary takes a fittingly experimental approach, interspersing animated sequences of Monk’s dream journals with contemporary footage of daily life in the cavernous Tribeca loft she shares with her pet tortoise, Neutron. Also featuring interviews with Björk, Byrne and Glass (who notes that Monk, “among all of us, was – and still is – the uniquely gifted one”), this documentary portrait offers a vibrant collage of a profoundly influential artist’s story.
“The best celebration of Monk’s work that could be offered for an artist who found so much in her own voice.” – The Moveable Fest
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