Educational Media Reviews Online

The Barnstormers are a group of New York and Tokyo based artists that first worked together in 1999. At the invitation of New York artist David Ellis, they congregated in the rural tobacco farming community of Cameron, North Carolina and painted murals on barns, shacks and farm equipment. The success of this first collaboration, and the positive relationships formed with each other and the community, has brought the group of artists (named “Barnstormers” by the Cameron residents) back to the area many times. The group has produced a substantial body of collaborative mural work, the construction of a custom-painted, 200-speaker, three-ton sound system, and a collection of time-lapse “motion paintings”. 360° is one of the “motion paintings”, and represents the group's first collaboration using indoor/outdoor filming. The project was filmed on location in Cameron, NC, and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, NC between July and October, 2004. It is a delightfully playful yet extremely accomplished and significant work. The short documentary captures the Barnstormers’ disassembly of a 1930’s 16 x 16 x 23 foot tobacco barn, its reassembly in the museum, the painting of over twenty murals on its side (one over the other), and its eventual reconstruction in Cameron. The time-lapse filming played out in “fast forward” to an incredibly diverse and powerful soundtrack is truly mesmerizing. All technical aspects of the filming, organization of the artistic processes, and postproduction are perfectly executed.

This program is appropriate for most library collections. It provides an energetic documentary on contemporary art, art in public spaces, and the possibilities afforded through the combination of film, painting, construction and music. Perhaps most importantly “360˚” is a testament to artistic collaboration and community relationships.

Over thirty artists have worked under the Barnstormers name. Those represented in “360˚” are: Chuck Webster, Martin Mazorra, Sasu, Kami, Madsaki, Che Jen, Jose Parla, Chris Mendoza, Mike Houston, Alex Lebedev, Mike Ming, Swoon, Daikon, South, Kiku Yamaguchi, David Ellis, Maya Hayuk, Blust One, West One, Yuri Shimojo, Kenji Hirata, and Rostarr.