Although he is an artist well-revered for his paintings, sculptures and sketches of early prehistoric life, John Gurche will be celebrating the work of another artist.
The Kubrick Retrospective, a film series at the Athena that profiles the work of Stanley Kubrick, continues Monday with a special presentation of 2001: A Space Odyssey featuring a discussion from Gurche.
Gurche was initially asked to do a presentation on Jurassic Park, a film he worked on as a “dinosaur specialist,” but he said he felt more inclined to do a presentation on Kubrick’s film because he recently published a book on the film titled Shaping Humanity. The book centers on using art to tell the human evolutionary story.
“In a way, the film does something very similar to that,” Gurche said. “It is especially good at communicating how far humans have come from their ape ancestors. And then it speculates on what we might become in the future. Shaping Humanity also attempts to convey the magnitude of the distance humankind has come, and then projects that into the future.”
Maureen Wagner, assistant dean of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Fine Arts, said she hopes this screening is informative and enlightening.
“The film is fantastic on many levels. It has perhaps the most ambitious scope ever attempted on camera; it attempts to convey the subjective experience of an individual undergoing an evolutionary transition—artificially in this case, with a nudge from the black monolith,” Gurche said. “It depicts two such transitions, and both involve cognitive upgrades.”
Ultimately, Gurche said he has one main hurdle to get over with this presentation.
“I’ve given many lectures on similar subjects, some associated with film showings,” he said. “In this case the greatest challenge might be sharing the stage with Stanley Kubrick.”
wa054010@ohiou.edu
This article appeared in print under the headline "Artist to discuss film series"
