This is the original teaser for Baby Marx, an ongoing project by Pedro Reyes that explores the intersections of mass entertainment, ideology and contemporary art. The teaser was produced for the Yokohama Triennial in Japan in 2008, and was followed by a television pilot shot in Mexico City in 2009. He worked closely with Japanese master puppeteer Takumi Ota for over a year to design and build the puppets, which Reyes explains as crafted “to cast the personality of a character in the simplest form […] a silhouette.”
The Walker version of Baby Marx uses the tools and procedures of documentary filmmaking, as well as the handmade puppets and monumental library set used to film the pilot episode, to develop and expand on the questions raised by the entire project to date.
Baby Marx is on view at the Walker August 11 – November 27, 2011.
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