The Brezinski Project

If your still 'Alive' or should I say "Staying Alive" and you need a dose of inspiration to boost your survival rate as an American Artist go see this film!

I couldn't get enough of seeing some of the key art world figure's who became house hold names as we know them today, but there was a time when they too were just like the rest of (The Gang) of the East Village and eventually the Soho Streets became their stomping ground. Which turned Artist's into competitive and spiteful laboratory rats for the Nuevo Rich to manipulate. "It's a true tell story of how nobody knew what was going to work for them on the road to real life success."-KaMo.

This is a fascinating journey, a cautionary tale of sorts into the mind of an obscure artist who came of age in the 70s and 80s. Punk. New expressionism(is that the term?). The pre gentrified east village. Rock and roll. Crack houses. It's all alive here. We feel his desperate need to be discovered, to be respected the story is told through amazing old video footage and in new interviews through the eyes of friends and associates many who have became successful artists (some household names). The movie sprawls (in a good way) as we watch his tragic descent. All this comes at you with a constant montage of late 20th century modern art (by the subjects) woven into the images. And then a mystery must be solved. It's a beautiful film, a strange film, that cradles the viewer as he descends down the east village rabbit hole with the subject. All this with a beautiful score that keeps it all so alive.

Terrific interviews from colleagues of a tortured artist, looking for fame. Excellent archival footage, colorful eccentrics, and a sharp sense of humor tell a cautionary tale about the desire to be recognized and the dangers of finding self-worth in an era of decadence and degradation. Vincent explores the East Village art scene through the lens and words of the people that lived it. Egos and oils collide in a wonderful score that paces the story well. If you want to see the hardships of being a starving artist, a desperate artist, a brilliant artist- check out this doc. The ghost of Brezinski thanks you...perhaps.

I saw this film with a Q&A afterwords with the filmmakers. They are both artists, performers, not visual artists or even filmmakers until this many years in the making project took hold of therm.. Their research is spot on and with a mixture of period film and video with backward facing interviews of artists and galleryists they tell a story that transcends their direct subject to evoke a deeply personal and real consideration of all of the immensely talented artists who don't "succeed." I lived in New York then and went to some of the places in this film and certainly must have met some of the people in the film. Make Me Famous does a terrific job of showing that life, its milieu, its standards, its values and the hurlyburly of a striving artist, penniless, pursuing his art in anyway available. It's desperate, sad, and marvelous and brave and tragic all at once and this film captures it all so well..

As an artist, I often wonder why do some artists become successful and others not ??? This movie examines the question Basinski was a really talented artist, and this is a fascinating era, I moved to New York to be a part of this scene, and I found it incredibly difficult to gain entrée, but even if you were part of the scene and talented, it didn't guarantee success, and that's the case with this artist, he was very talented and he should've been famous, but it didn't work out for him... Fascinating documentary about a fascinating era New York's history, beautifully done with excellent cameos and lots of videos...