Stanley Kubrick: Artist, Explorer and Pioneer

Stanley Kubrick: Artist, Explorer and Pioneer

Introduction

The line between art and entertainment has become malleable in the last century. Critics of fine art define its quality by its message, innovation and complexity. Both are founded on intent to communicate. Art seeks to engage the viewer and generally attempts to tap into more complicated and rarer emotions. (Krush Web Site) Stanley Kubrick uses the medium of film to convey an understanding of the world around him. I see his work as art rather than entertainment and I propose his inclusion in Howard Gardner’s model of Multiple Intelligences. The basis of my argument lies in analysis of his work ethic, complexities, innovations and communication skills.

Background

Stanley Kubrick was born on July 26th, 1928. The Bronx New York was both his birthplace and childhood home. While there he had a relatively uneventful adolescence. His typical nuclear family was of Jewish faith and consisted of a sister, Barbara, six years his younger, a mother, Gertrude, and a father, Jakob. His father was a doctor and instrumental in building the path Kubrick would later follow.

His performance in academics was far from spectacular. Kubrick left high school without graduating at 17. His cumulative average was a 67. While in school, Physics was the only subject in which he excelled (his love of machines and movement are apparent in his later endeavors). But the time he spent in William Howard Taft High School was far from fruitless. On his 13th birthday he received a camera from his father. This led to a love of photography – he was the official photographer for the school and was even exhibited. At an early age Stanley had an eye for composition, subjects and themes. It was o...

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... an audience and those luck enough to work with him, is hidden in the complexities of his work. Although he has touched some of the established genres of film, his style is all his own. His movies continually arouse critical analysis and raise questions about the state of humankind. Stanley Kubrick’s gifts to society will be remembered as frighteningly truthful and creative.

Works Cited:

Ciment, Michel. Kubrick. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. 1980.

DeVries, Daniel. Film of Stanley Kubrick. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids. 1973.

Gardner, Howard. Creating Minds. Basic Books: A Division of Harber Collins Publishers, New York. 1993.

Nelson, Thomas Allen. Kubrick: Inside a Film ArtistUs Maze. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. 1982.

Walker, Alexander. Stanley Kubrick Directs. Harcourt Brace Jovanovick, Inc, New York. 1971.