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ART21: An Artist Walks into a Bar

Art21 New York Close Up Featuring Aki Sasamoto. Short Documentary, 9 min, 2019

In this hybrid narrative-documentary film, the idiosyncratic Japanese, New York-based performance artist and recent mother Aki Sasamoto, day-dreams at a bar of drinking whiskey and creating an artwork of self-spinning whiskey glasses. As the artwork takes form, it becomes clear that it’s not just about drinking – the work becomes a metaphor for life, motherhood, and even the process of art-making.

FEATURING:

Aki Sasamoto

Ray Ekwurtzel-Sasamoto

Pau Atela

Romina Gonzales

Anna Peterson

DIRECTORS Rafael Salazar and Ava Wiland

"New York Close Up" SERIES PRODUCER: Nick Ravich 

PRODUCER Ava Wiland

EDITOR Rafael Salazar

CINEMATOGRAPHY Jon Nelson and Rafael Salazar

DIGITAL COMPOSITOR Luis M. Pla

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Julia Main

LOCATION SOUND Nikola Chapelle

GAFFER Jacob Mallin. 

PRODUCTION SERVICES RAVA Films

COLOR CORRECTION Jerome Thelia

SOUND DESIGN & MIX Adam Boese

DESIGN & GRAPHICS Chips

MUSIC Matt Bauder

ARTWORK COURTESY OF Aki Sasamoto

THANKS Jason Bauer, Bortolami Gallery, James Corporan, Cut + Measure, Sam Ekwurtzel, Eugene & Company, Gilberto Gil, Romina Gonzales, Ben Hagari, Anna Peterson, UrbanGlass, and Russell Yaffe