Here is a brief interview with Out of The Box Director Seymon Pinkhasov:
Nigrin: Your insightful documentary Out of the Box focuses on Gregory Perkel, a contemporary artist who makes art out of cardboard boxes. What motivated you to make this film and tell our readers what they can expect to see?
Pinkhasov: I immigrated to the USA, just as Gregory Perkel did. When I came to America almost 40 years ago, I was surrounded by many families like mine: we didn’t speak English, had no friends, no families to support us. We all had small children and spouses to take care of. We did well. We became computer specialists, scientists, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and in my case -- I became a fencing coach for the USA national team. We had jobs. We worked regular hours. Gregory Perkel is an artist. If our families had been priorities for us, art was a priority for Gregory. His adjustment to this new life, and new country was and continue to be different from ours. I hope viewers of this film will see and understand that the same conditions of assistance provided to different people may not bring the same results. True artists are different people.
Nigrin: Perkel was originally from Russia. How did he make his way to the USA?
Pinkhasov: Gregory Perkel came to the USA after leaving the Soviet Union in 1977. At that time the only way to leave the Soviet Union was to declare that you have family in Israel and you want to re-unite with them. After leaving the USSR you would have opportunity to change the place of your final destination. Gregory choose to come to America.
Nigrin: Were there any memorable stories in getting the film finished or any other info about your film you can pass on to us?
Pinkhasov: Initially, I did not want to make this film, because I knew Gregory personally. My concern was I would not be an objective filmmaker. But, after Gregory gave his word, he would not interfere, I decided to go ahead with this project.
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Out of the Box will be screened before Eva Hesse. Here is more info on this screening:
Out of the Box – Seymon Pinkhasov (New York, New York An insightful documentary about Gregory Perkel, a contemporary artist who was born in the former Soviet Union, and now lives and works in New Jersey. Perkel makes art out of cardboard boxes, and his commitment to the creative appropriation of materials, which would otherwise be discarded, is finally receiving well-deserved attention. 2016; 38 min. With an introduction and Q+A session with Director Seymon Pinkhasov!
Eva Hesse – Marcie Begleiter (New York, New York) Eva Hesse (1936-1970) is one of America’s foremost postwar artists. Her pioneering sculptures, using latex, fiberglass, and plastics, helped establish what came to be known as the post-minimalist movement. Dying of a brain tumor at the age of 34, she had a mere decade-long career that, despite its brevity, is dense with complex, intriguing works that defy easy categorization. This documentary, the first feature-length appreciation of her life and work, makes superb use of the artist’s voluminous journals and her correspondence with mentor Sol LeWitt, and also features interviews with fellow artists, such as Richard Serra, Robert Mangold, and Dan Graham, who recall her passion, ambition, and tenacity. Art critic Arthur Danto has written that her work is “full of life, of eros, even of comedy… Each piece vibrates with originality and mischief.” The documentary captures these qualities, but also the psychic struggles of an artist who, in the New York art scene of the 1960s, was one of the few women whose work was taken seriously. 2016; 108 min. Co-Sponsored by the Rutgers University Zimmerli Art Museum!
Sunday, September 18, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.
Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University
71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey
$12=General; $10=Students+Seniors; $9=Rutgers Film Co-op Friends
Information: (848) 932-8482; www.njfilmfest.com
Jimmy John’s of New Brunswick will be providing free food prior to all New Jersey International Film Festival Screenings!
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