The art of killing it

Brussels on a cold Valentine's evening. I had made it to my favorite bookshop while I was killing some time before going to cinema. My hands were itching at the look and the touch of all these beautiful books, but since my wallet was painfully empty, I had to leave it for another time. On the days of my other Belgian life, I used to spend some Sundays at the librairie Filigranes , and loved leaving, feeling slightly guilty, with a much bigger shopping than the one book I came to buy. My visit on that Thursday was quick, just to check the shop was still there, for my future Sundays. I walked downhill and found it, this amazing independent-to-the-bone cinema, one of these magic places that make you wonder how on earth they manage to survive in this rough commercial world of ours.A must visit, if not by going there, at least here

I had been invited by my fellow AB to see her friend's (Sabrina Calmels) documentary "The Grand Scheme", following three painters from New York and San Francisco. I have to say I am suspicious as soon as I hear about a documentary... It seems every intellectual wannabe who doesn't have anything to do and has a vague notion of filming starts making documentaries. Most of the time they are pathetically boring and aesthetically nerve-racking. But I trust my AB's taste, so I went and was not disappointed. The movie is a beautiful tribute to creative process. We get into the universe of "The Goldmine Shithouse" : three artists, six hands, sleeping together, waking up together in one open gallery for two weeks to create, paint, carve tirelessly on the same wooden canvas. "Try again. fail again. fail better." If the painting is not good enough, they "kill it". No matter how much work has been spent on it. No matter if someone found it actually great. When the painting is not finished and resists, well you gotta kill it and start again! The film is full of art, paint, and humor. Its main thought, focusing on the process rather than the achievement (this is no success story, we are not given the chance to see the actual vernissage, neither the full exhibition) could be applied to any form of art, and from a broader point of view, to our life process - one needs to kill it sometimes, or else let go, and start again. Inspiring documentary! 

I'm not very good at "killing it". That's most probably why you get to read this post. But I learn, I promise!