By Savanna Malloy – Special to the Chronicle
The Rosenberg Gallery in Calkins Hall presents “Ben Hagaris 4D Film Experience: Potters Will.”
This multimedia art installation combines sound, performance and striking imagery to create a feast for the senses.
The exhibit also includes a small-scale model of the “Potters Will” set from the film.
The film opens with a wide camera shot from above of potter’s studio before panning down and zooming in on a pair of hands molding clay.
Soft instrumental music begins to play as the artist, played by Hofstra Professor of Fine Arts Paul Chaleff, throws the clay on a potter’s wheel. The camera then begins to revolve around the artist with increasing speed. As the music and spinning intensifies, the viewer is taken inside the finished pot by the camera.
The screen goes dark, the music fades and the faint crackling of a fire can be heard in the distance. Transported into a dark stone room, a man covered from head to toe in wet clay sits on the ground illuminated by the warm flickering glow of firelight.
The clay man stands and begins to laboriously make his way towards the source of light with the help of a cane. His slow, laborious walk creates a juxtaposing sense of ominousness and calm within the viewer.
The cane later transforms itself into a snake that slithers around the neck of the man before disentangling itself and disappearing from view.
The film concludes with the clay man stepping into the fire where he is baked by the heat. The final shot of the piece is a close up of the man’s hardened and cracking exterior as a single teardrop rolls down his cheek.
In the film, Hagari seems to firstly be commenting on the idea of creation, in a literal sense with the potter and his art, and then secondly in a metaphorical interpretation through the clay man.
The limited lighting, cool color scheme and simplistic set seen in the potter’s studio limits all other distracting imagery allowing the audience to focus on the simple act of the artist’s creation.
As the film progresses, Hagari depicts creation in a more figurative sense. Fire, as seen in the film, can be interpreted to represent a creative force, a force for change. Furthermore, one cannot help but draw a parallel to the biblical creation story imagery as depicted by the serpent in Hagari’s film.
Hagari manipulates performance, images and sound to construct art that explores the creative subconscious.
The “Potter’s Will” is a must-see exhibit for anyone hoping to experience new and exiting art that stimulates not only the senses, but also the mind. It will run through Wednesday, Oct. 28.