THE PROPOSAL: A Documentary That Breaks The Mold
The inspiration point for The Proposal, a new documentary created by artist and writer Jill Magid, is the Mexican architect Luis Barragan. Magid has been a big deal in the art world for some time now, having created several pieces of conceptual art, some of which has been exhibited in London’s Tate Modern. Most of that work has been based on systems of power; she’s worked with the Merseyside Police, the Dutch Secret Service, and Texan governors. But for The Proposal, she turned her eye towards corporate rather than governmental power.
Barragan himself is a big deal in Mexico; he collaborated with sculptor Mathias Goeritz to create an installation in Mexico City which encapsulates his body of work pretty well: it’s a series of multi-coloured statues that look a little like the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They’re angular and imposing, strange against the natural colours that surround it.
The corporation, that Magid focuses on is a family of manufacturers. The woman currently helming the operation, Federica Zanco, purchased the Luis Barragan archive and has continually denied public access to it since. Prior to that, the archive was owned by the Barragan Foundation, based in Mexico City itself, who seem unhappy with the way Zanco handles the work. Rightfully so; Barraganhas become something of a national treasure in his home country.
From there, the situation only gets more curious. Zanco is currently married to a Swiss man called Rolf Fehlman; after proposing to her, Zanco requested Barragan’s archive as an engagement gift in lieu of a customary wedding ring. Fehlman complied with her wishes.
Breaking the Mold
So although the springboard for the documentary is the Barragan archive, the work itself is more concerned with the relationship between Magid herself and Federica Zanco, and what her purchase of the archive represents. The two never met in person for years, but corresponded through letters, the first of which was a request to Zanco by Magid to see the archive for herself (Zanco refused).
The smartest aspect of the documentary is that Magid never allows you to see what Zanco really looks like; nor do you get a sense of what the woman is like from her letters, and you can’t help but wonder whether Zanco intentionally portrays herself as a kind of Willy Wonka figure on her part, or if Magid uses her reclusive nature as a dramatic conceit; either way, it works.
In terms of mood, the documentary has a calming, pensive nature. It’s clear Magid isn’t interested in making a sensation of the story, which is a wise move. Their relationship, and what each woman (not to mention the art world) stands to gain from it, is interesting enough in itself. It’s less about Barragan, but about who has the right to works of art (or things related to it) in the modern world. Is it ethical for Zanco to keep the history, a considerable part of Mexico’s art history, for herself? And is the privatisation of art, something made to be widely enjoyed, ethical in a wider sense?
It’s difficult to make a presumption on behalf of Jill Magid herself, but watching the documentary itself, I felt as if it was a shame that so much of Barragan’s life and work is kept from public view. Whether I was bringing preconceived feelings to the documentary or not, it was difficult to tell, but the fact that The Proposal asks the viewer a question, and makes them consider it, means its done its job.
The Proposal: Conclusion
The Proposal is a documentary without a conclusion, but it would be impossible for it to have one. I don’t want to give away the ins and outs of the relationship between Magid and Zanco, because it makes it up the main bulk of the film, but the correspondence between the two women is still ongoing, in a way, but I will say this: most documentaries of this type are perfectly content with doing nothing more than providing a biography of an artist’s life and giving their work context, but with The Proposal, Jill Magid went the extra mile.
The Proposal is a documentary with far more depth than is the norm for these kinds of things, and it’s worth checking out for anybody who’s interested in the art world, no matter how cursory that interest may be.
What do you think of The Proposal? Have you seen it? Let us know in the comments.
The Proposal is released in the US on 24th of May.
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