Witkin-Witkin

 

Witkin and Witkin Painter and Photographer. 

            Witkin and Witkin is a documentary, by Trisha Ziff.  This film focuses on Joel and Jerry Witkin. Identical twin brothers that started out very much alike but choose different paths to become artists.

The documentary focuses on the brothers’ childhood. It is based on interviews with the two brothers, their sister, co-workers, and wives. Jerry and Joel Witkin started out very much alike and slept in the same bed. Their mother even dressed them alike. It was in their youth they seemed to be treated exactly the same. The beginning of the split for them was when Jerry became aware of his interest in painting and Joel had not found a love for art yet. Joel was a regular boy playing baseball. Joel however later became interested in photography when his father paid him a visit. He and his father were looking at photos from the newspaper and he was amazed by the photography. The film moved through their childhood quickly with interviews from all three siblings. The movie describes Joel and Jerry Witkin’s change and split in their teenage years as a parting of ways. Jerry went on to art school and Joel went into the army where his fascination with photography grew.  

The two grew separately in their mediums. The documentary had stories and interviews and artworks were shown.  Jerry became a well-established painter. The paintings he created were conceptually in hopes that people do not forget tragedy so it doesn’t repeat itself. Joel Witkins’ focus was on grotesque and eccentricities in his photographs. The close-ups were geared more heavily towards Joel Witkins’ work. The photographer’s work had a feel for shock value. Both Witkins are very well-established artists in their mediums.  The documentary shows Jerry being a professor and Joel being a working artist.  The Witkins both have had varying shows nationally. The film flipped flopped between the two brothers’ lives after their becoming of age story. This made the film confusing.

One might feel that it was bogged down and slow.  The scenes were long pauses of silence. The high light towards the end of the documentary was the Witkin and Witkin art show in New Mexico. In the exhibit, the viewers got to see the brothers’ works together but it was not the focus. This made the documentary weak. It needed a slow race track through the gallery and focus on likenesses and differences between the twos work. This would have made the documentary stronger. I learned a lot about the Witkins rearing and their works. Their works are interesting my taste in art is geared more towards Jerry Witkins.  I think the differences between the two would have also stood out more through a better focus on the artwork.

I am not sure I would recommend this video unless the person was a fan of the Witkins. I was unaware of Witkin and Witkin as artists even though I recognized some of the pieces. The video had odd spots, and slow clips of silence. Two that stuck out were of the brothers individually watching jeopardy at the end. The going back and forth from one interview to the next made the film confusing and drag. The clip of snow shoveling with nothing being said was awkward.  It might have made the film stronger with an interview of brothers together.  Overall this film was mediocre.