The anonymous waves White Page Gallery
is proud to present its inaugural exhibition #monalisa – a film by
Jennifer Anderson and Vernon Lott (USA). Shot in slow motion over 3 days at the Louvre in Paris, and then edited down from 40 to 11
hours (the film makers had originally conceived a much
shorter documentary but were so fascinated by the footage they left
many of the takes intact), the film is an extraordinary document of
our times. We are very excited to partner with Jennifer and Vernon to
bring you this world premiere!
Jennifer Anderson and Vernon Lott's new experimental nonfiction film, “#monalisa,” immerses viewers in the pre-COVID-19 museum experience.
Each year, approximately ten million people visit the Louvre, and according to Henri Loyrette, the Louvre's former director, “eighty percent of the people only want to see the Mona Lisa.” But how many people actually look at the famous painting? Or do they just take a selfie? Filmed on a GoPro consumer camera, "#monalisa" is an interrogation of the relationship between art and technology.
Additionally, in a world where our attention spans are waning (a 2013 study conducted by Microsoft found that the average person's attention span was 8 seconds--one second less than that of a goldfish), "#monalisa" invites viewers to slow down and observe; to this end, the film was shot entirely in slow motion and the filmmakers kept the editing to a minimum--the longest shot is 45 minutes. As a result, the film turns visitors to the Louvre into works of art themselves. The film is a contemplation of human behavior and a meditation on looking.
"#monalisa" features cinematography by Nandan Rao and a wall-to-wall score by Peter Broderick and David Allred. At eleven hours, "#monalisa" might be the nineteenth longest experimental film ever made, and the score the second longest musical composition ever released. It's not necessarily meant to be watched from beginning to end. Viewers can click around on the link and watch it in any order.
