© Laurie SIMMONS
The Music of Regret
| Artist | Laurie SIMMONS |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005-2006 |
| Material/ Technique | 35mm film (transferred to HD CAM) |
| Size/ Duration | 44 min. 14 sec. |
| Copyright Notice | © Laurie SIMMONS |
| Year of acquisition/ donation | 2007 |
| Description | Born in Far Rockaway, USA in 1949. Lives and works in New York. Since the 1970s, Laurie Simmons has produced photographic works in which toys, ventriloquists’ dummies and other objects are placed in dolls houses and against various backgrounds and exquisitely lit to create an imaginary world. She has projected onto artificial stages scenes that cannot be realized in real life. These photographs form series that adopt a narrative style in which after one series concludes, the next series commences. Using such motifs as dolls and houses, Simmons depicts at an everyday level the chaotic state of contemporary society. "The Music of Regret" is Simmons’ first film, made using the objects and dolls familiar from her photographic works from the 1970s and beyond. It takes the form of a musical in three acts: ‘Green Tie,’ featuring puppets; ‘The Music of Regret,’ featuring ventriloquists’ dummies; and ‘Audition,’ featuring dolls from the “Walking Objects” series. The only human actor in the film is Meryl STREEP, who plays the part of Simmons opposite a number of ventriloquists’ dummies in a scene in which she reminisces about past love affairs. The chorus beginning with the lines ‘Would’a, should’a, could’a…’ and the crooning voices singing comical and melodramatic tunes, give expression to the subtleties of the genuine feelings of regret and desire we usually hide as we go about our day-today lives, portrayed melodramatically, full of vivid colors yet at the same time charged with pathos. Simmons was responsible for the stage design, screenplay and lyrics. The film makes full use of analog and digital techniques in the image processing of the complex relationship between the dolls and the backdrops and in the use of the same lighting methods when filming using actual people as those used when filming the dolls and the miniature sets. |
NOTES
This Collection Data page contains the works and materials in the collection of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, as of April 1, 2018.
Artists are listed alphabetically by artist’s surname.
Works and materials by the same artists are listed according to the date of the work in principle.
Works whose dates are unidentified are listed at the end of each item. Some works are not listed according to the date of work due to their relations.
The data of works and materials are listed in order of title, production year, material/technique/form, dimensions, donor’s name, copyright holder and credit for photograph.
Dimensions are given by height (H) x width (W) in centimeters for plane work, and height (H) x width (W) x depth (D) in cm for 3-D work. Diameter (Ø) is used for circular work.
For the name of country or city, the name currently used in English is listed in principle.