I’m beginning to think that famous actors have too much free time on their hands. And not because of the strike, which is more than fair and necessary, but because at one time or another they all end up believing they have a gift for writing or art… and no one tells them to stop. This is the case of James Franco, who throughout his extensive career has published a book of autobiographical short stories, released an album with his band Daddy, directed several documentaries… and, of course, has become a painter. Or something like that.
Painter who paints with love
“I’ve been painting longer than I’ve been acting,” he said when his paintings were first shown in Los Angeles in 2006. But as a fan of Shia LaBeouf’s artistic suicide, of course, his paintings couldn’t be a pretty still life or a self-portrait: he had to go a little bit further. And this is where ‘Fresh Air’ comes in, a masterpiece for some, a joke for most.
In 2011, James Franco opened an art venue of sorts called the Museum of Unseen Art along with the art team known as Praxis. It’s exactly what you’re thinking: non-existent works with beautiful descriptions that, it was supposed to open our eyes “to a parallel world full of images and words.” With the excuse that “maybe it’s more real than the real world,” Franco offered for sale a work that, truth be told, didn’t lie.
‘Fresh air’ was, literally, a piece of fresh air. That is, nothing. The description said “The air you’re buying is like buying an oxygen tank with no end. You can take this piece of art with you if you buy it.” And there was one lady, Aimee Davison, who took the bait (because it can’t be described any other way): she took $10,000 off her credit card and bought a whole lot of nothing.
When asked why she had spent so much money on such a joke, she replied “I identify with the ideology of the project and particularly the phrase ‘We exchange ideas and dreams as currency in the New Economy‘”. Very nice, but the real currency was the $10,000 she spent on the nonsense.
In James Franco’s favor, it must be said that he did not keep the money, but reused it to take the Museum of Unseen Art to other places in the United States. In fact, I’m pretty sure he was able to remake his work from scratch in a very short period of time. The magic of being an artist, I guess.
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