A performance artist who cages himself in a
New York gallery while society goes to hell in the city outside provides some easy satire
“We have lost Gucci!! The Gucci store is down.” That’s an art gallery owner’s lament as anti-lockdown
protesters rampage through New York’s chichi SoHo in this microbudget indie directed by Michael M Bilandic. It’s a cheeky satire poking fun at art world pretention, and there’s a reasonable strike rate of digs here. That said, accusing modern art of being all hype and no substance is not exactly a case of picking a tough target.
Keith Poulson plays an obnoxious performance artist, Nate, an ageing enfant terrible whose career has nosedived. Now he’s attempting to claw his way back with a cheap stunt. Nate intends to remain locked inside a metal cage for 120 days in a Manhattan gallery living on a diet of creepy crawlies. His only company is a cute-looking
Robot, which has been programmed to taser him with electric shocks several times a day.