mike "ringo" white

Mike "Ringo" White is an artist who lives and works in Milwaukee. He's untrained, if that distinction is important and works primarily with found/recycled materials.

I struggled a lot in the production of this short documentary, there are technical issues I have to resolve and content was something I found difficult to reconcile as well. I tried not to portray this person as a novelty but I also didn't want to make something completely sappy about the wonder of creativity (though, you know, that sort of thing is true, and, a part of this)

It reminds me of when, last year, I made this documentary about the presidential elections:



I intended it to be about more than just the election itself. I wanted to address the sorts of things people say in public vs. in private, in what situations people are willing to say what things and to relate that to political debate. It was fairly controversial (I got a lot of varied responses, few entirely or even mostly positive) I think because of the way I portrayed my peers, which could be construed negatively but, I still think in terms of what I set out to do, and in context, it worked to some degree.

But, based on the readings of this piece by my friends I made an alternate cut that I meant to address fairly literally the climate of election day. I may get around to uploading it sometime but it was less genuine, for me, more superficially hopeful, more of an obvious illustration of the sort of doctrine of change that was being purveyed at the time. I think I made it to redeem myself in the eyes of my peers as opposed to addressing a possibly more interesting thought, which it didn't.

Not to completely overanalyze the process...

Anyhow, I didn't want to do with the Ringo doc what I did with the second election video. I'm not sure if I've accomplished that. My feelings about outsider art, as a field, and this artist in particular, the comparison of his personality, life, and artwork changed considerably over the course of the process.

In conclusion, I think this is one I need to keep thinking about, feedback is appreciated, dialogue will hopefully ensue, and, I'll keep working out my ideas about it.