A journey of obsession and metamorphosis. An artist searches for his own self-image through portrait.

With little to no budget, ‘Self’ is the second short film from a UK based arts collective called [sic], that explores an artist’s search for his own self-image, and what happens when the artist confronts thyself and all of his facets through painting his self-portrait.

The concept of this short is really interesting, mainly because it’s always been difficult for me to imagine how an artist like Van Gogh would paint his self-portrait, being sure of capturing what it is that he would want to transmit through this type of painting. Point is, what is great in what the team from [sic] did in this particular effort, -besides featuring original work of Dave Huntley, an artist who plays the artist in the short- is tackling the reasoning that takes place behind each of the artist’s brushstroke, to understanding every line in his face, ears, eyes, etc., eventually bringing him to obsess about it, and no longer seeing anything clearly about himself. Alas, the last shot brings you to wonder -along with the young man studying this portrait- if the final product really represents the artist, or the result of the exploration that the artist took on with this particular exercise.

The photography in this short is quite lovely, following the artist’s process and where it leads him. Although some of the shots are weakened by heavier blurriness that overbear the overall look, this short was made really well and the concept behind it really made it interesting for me to reflect on and discuss about.
The [sic] guys are presently working on a new project, ‘Grew up’ set to go into production in August 2012, and are looking for people who want to get involved! For anyone who’s interested, or just want to follow what this crew is up to next, check out indiegogo.com/sic.