MOST IMPORTANT ARTWORKS ARE COLLECTED: CHILDREN OF MEN

The most important artworks are collected... in a film.

CHILDREN OF MEN (Translated into Turkish as "Last Hope") 

A great adaptation that even the world's most important artworks are in shadows...

We shared an article about the film and the book in 2021, the article is not available now :) Anyway... So we thought it would be better to include some details in the film. Anyway, our main title is... art :) It contains SPOILER after here, let's have already made the warning. 

-SPOILER ALERT-

The film is an adaptation from P.D. James' book of the same name, published in 1992. Director of the movie: Alfonso Cuarón. Cast of the film: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor... even Ed Westwick... Even if it has a very short scene. Definitely... watch the movie, read the book... It is a real advice.

The film starts in 2027 with a scene in London. Our main character, Theo, is a ministry employee who has had great ideals in the past, even some attempts, but lost hope with the effect of the period when he coincided, and found himself in a monotonous life cycle over time... We feel you Theo...

Let's come close to some overlooked details...
More precisely, the details we collect in 5 under the title of art.

Section 1: Ark of Arts appears in an environment where the world collapses. The Art of Arts has the purpose of collecting the most important artworks from all over the world, and we see the emphasis that the government supports art organizations and communities in the film. In the film, a work strikes our eyes on the wall where soldiers and cops stand in front of the protocol entrance of the Ark of Arts building: Kissing Cops. One of Banksy's famous works. Kissing Cops include the revival of two British police officers. The work was first seen on the wall of the Prince Albert Pub in Brighton in 2004. It is also very special to position the street artist's work at the entrance of an Ark of Arts supported by the government by removing it from the wall :)

Section 2: Ark of Arts is an environment where the most important works of the world are collected but not opened to "public". Like a mega cabinet of curiosities, they look at the works, the works look at them, all day long :) We will touch upon the building here in detail in the last section.

Section 3: Michelangelo's David statue welcomes us at Ark of Arts. Its headlines in the local press of Italy include: "Salvare il David di Michelangelo. E' a rischio sisma"... Means "Protect Michelangelo's David statue from the risk of aftershocks!" If we carefully look at the lower left calf of the statue in this scene in the film, we testify to the situation that the experts have emphasized to date: Micro fractures in the ankle from the period when the David statue was exhibited in the public area led to the statue leaning forward at five degrees, and it was underlined that the statue was in danger of collapse due to ongoing aftershocks. In this scene in the film, we see that the statue is trying to be protected from the danger in question (?-experts underline the micro fractures on the right side) and is supported by the lower calf. The overlooked detail in this scene of the film is that the founder of Ark of Arts: "Couldn't save La Pietà. Smashed up before we got there” he said, emphasizing that they could not get only statue Michelangelo ever signed from the Vatican. La Pietà, with its original name "Pietà del vaticana", is the depiction of Jesus' sleep in the lap of Mary, the mother of the crucifixion. The work is in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City.

Section 4: What would you do with Guernica in your home's dining room? :) At first sight, anyone can be fascinated, but you know mankind... They do not even look at something they see all the time. So is the film. It is not even a question of protecting the works, and each one of them is randomly positioned, and relative humidity, absolute humidity, security, etc. they don't care :) A work by Guernica Picasso completed in 1937. The work is at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. Ark of Arts (Art Chest) is also considered a home environment. In the movie that passed in 2027, "because it was not considered a visitor" due to the situation of the world", a situation arises as if the works of art are exhibited in the home environment. Here we see Guernica in the dining room. Let's come to the truth of the misrepresented story about Guernica. Everyone about the Guernica painting recalls: "... a German general approached him at Picasso's exhibition and directed him to him," Did you make this painting?" question. 

The truth of the story is like this... When Paris is under occupation, a German officer dives into Picasso's apartment (he doesn't politely knock on the door, so he literally dives in) and catches a photo of Guernica while tampering around. "Did you do this?" When he manages his question, Picasso replies "No you did" in response. This story continues to face different different... Instead of accepting the concept of war - heroic - Guernica challenges war by demonstrating the destructiveness of war, so it has been considered the most important symbol of anti-war.

Section 5: Let's get the Pig Algie who messed up. Well... why did he mess up :) It will be good to start the story from the beginning... Where did you recognize the structure that hosted Ark of Arts in the film? It's Battersea Power Station, one of the works of architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who signed many designs, including the Cambridge University Library, Liverpool Cathedral, England's iconic red telephone box. It is one of the largest brick buildings in the world and stands out with its original Art Deco interior equipment. The structure was completed in different periods in two different stages, but it also managed to have almost the same design. Two chimney parts of the Battersea Power Plant, first called the Battersea A Power Plant, were built in the 1930s, then the Battersea B Power Plant was built in the 1950s, thereby completing the four-pull structure. Although the station's activity was stopped in 1983 - from the moment the construction phase began, the British people were worried about pollution and constantly exposed to complaints and eventually stopped operating - the building was chosen for the cover photo of an album in 1976. Which album? Pink Floyd's Animals album released in 1977. In the album, based on George Orwell's Animal Farm, various classes of society are defined over different animal species to describe social and moral collapse like brutal and insatiable "pigs", mindless and unquestioned "sheep" herd... etc. The structure used in the album you see the pig connected to Battersea Power Station (Battersea Power Plant). It was known by the name Algie. The 12-meter Algie, the pig balloon, emerges as a joint design of a German company named Ballon Fabrik and Australian artist Jeffrey Shaw. It is preliminary to complete the album cover shot in three days. On the first day, the balloon is inflated with helium, and a marksman ready to fire if it escaped also kept in the area, but is canceled when the weather conditions are not suitable for shooting. On the second day, the group's manager, Steve O'Rourke, neglects to call the marksman to the field, during the shooting, and the 12-meter pig balloon Algie declares its freedom and gets rid of the iron it is attached to and starts the sky trip. Pilots are noticing the balloon that started flying over Heathrow, and the balloon causes panic in flight traffic and flights are stopped for a while, perfect :) The news is spreading for those who see it later to deliver it, and with the balloon landing on the city, one of the farmers brings and delivers the balloon. The sudden landing of the pig balloon Algie on earth frightened the farmer's cows, so it was stated that he was angry when delivering the balloon :) By the way, the moment the artist Carinthia West caught before flying to the freedom of the pig Algie, The photo is stunning... (You can find it with the title "Carinthia West-Pink Floyd, Animals Cover Shoot, Battersea Power Station, London, 1976", it will appear in black and white.) Let's get back to the film...

The film and the book were able to maintain their success simultaneously because even if we haven't reached 2027 yet, its content is not far from the period we live now. There are some thought-provoking details that the film needs to be hidden in the background, carefully watched and read carefully.