HOW ARE YOU (Jannik Splidsboel, Denmark). 70 minutes. Subtitled. Rating: NNN
Berlin queer art duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, famous for their outrageous art installations (e.g., siting a Prada boutique in the Texan desert), conceive and execute their piece for the 2009 Venice Biennale in this fascinating retrospective and study of artists at work.
Their 2008 memorial to gays persecuted in Nazi Germany, a video loop inside a permanent concrete structure in a Berlin park, shows two men kissing. Their biennale installation feigns the sale of two meticulously designed living spaces. In one, shown by faux real estate agents, a man appears to be drowned in the swimming pool.
Though the art is terrific, How Are You could use a little more drama and diva behaviour. Sometimes these guys are just too easy-going to be true.
