“If he can’t tell us what he’s doing, is it art?”

For Alex Masket, the answer is “yes, it is art.” And that’s the take-away from interviewees, my small crew, and everyone else involved while following Alex on an 18-month span of his creative journey. It all started with a phone call in 2009 when friend and graphic designer Nina Ovryn asked if I’d be interested in photographing some awe-inspiring artwork by a talented young man in town. Photographing an artist’s work is a perfect way to look at it – slowly and reflectively. Shortly after still photography began, the video project was hatched in a documentary class I had in the filmmaking program at Montclair State University (watch the end credits).

“Breaking Boundaries: The Art of Alex Masket” chronicles the story of Alex Masket, a unique and extraordinary artist who has created a deep and varied body of work despite a disability that inhibits what most might consider being ‘normal’ human interaction. Alex is a young adult with severe autism and makes what we in the verbal world call art.  Is he expressing himself? Is this his language, and is it our disability if we can't understand it?

Upon arrival in his parents’ Westfield, New Jersey home in the spring of 2009, the timing was perfect; Alex had begun to experiment with new materials. His parents were smartly guided by huge supporters of his work, the folks at Jerry’s Artist Outlet in West Orange, New Jersey. Always good to consult with the pros.

I was utterly awestruck watching Alex at work. He seemed completely engaged, confidently applying his media to a two-dimensional surface, often several surfaces at a time, caring not a whit about my presence. Alex was on a freewheeling creative spree, and I had the privilege of watching and capturing it on video.

As mentioned in an earlier blog entry, dear friend and jazz musician Diane Moser volunteered to create an original music score. It was in the can, start to finish, composed, recorded, and mixed, in two weeks, amazing! Her music is the glue that holds the film together. That was a huge break when D-Mo offered to come on board. I gave her a rough cut of the film, and my only instruction was to avoid minor notes; after all, it’s not a sad story.  

Sound guy (graphic artist, song-writer musician, raconteur) and frequent collaborator Bruce Hanson was an essential component of the project. Needless to say, a crucial part of a documentary film with speaking parts … is the sound. When Bruce isn’t tangled up in XLR cables for one of my fantasy photo shoots (see earlier blog), he’s a master of recording audio.

Hanson recently reminisced, “What I discovered almost immediately was, first, in viewing his artwork, a staggering intelligence, different than mine, yours, or the “standard", as it was clearly the way he invented to communicate with the world through it. How wonderful is that? Sure (and this also became apparent to me at his gallery show, I don’t remember exactly the venue), he wasn’t exactly the person to glad-hand you, shake your paw, smile, and slap you on the shoulder, but his appreciation of both his art and the respect visitors paid to it was palpable, and inspirational. I remember leaving his exhibit with the thought that, yep, perhaps he didn’t interact with the world like I or some others did, but his method of interaction was as valid and communicative as anyone’s. This was a revelation to me, but probably not to him, because, as someone as true to his artistic expression as he was (and not distracted by things irrelevant to it), it was natural as wet on water.  I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to pitch in just a little to getting his story told.”

Check out “Art on the Spectrum” , an article featuring Alex among other artists with limited verbal abilities that was written by Seimi Rurup, published in the Fall 2022 edition of “Cerebrum”, an online magazine whose objective is to provide a visually appealing mix of articles in the field of neuroscience. Thanks to Cerebrum’s executive editor Bill Glovin for making this article happen.

Re-reading some of the interviews with art experts and Alex’s community of supporters makes me want to revisit the film that I finished over ten years ago; maybe expand it. Someday.

In the meantime, a few excerpts from outtakes:

Roger Ricco (Ricco Maresca Gallery in NYC) - “Presence is the whole thing about being an artist, versus, well ‘my kid could do that’.  Yeah, your kid could do that, and this is one of the criticisms that people will say about Picasso…what I always have to say is ‘could your kid have thought of it?’  In addition, ‘could your kid continue to do this day after day with an attention, a presence that makes it, in a sense, a body of work versus an accident?’  I think this is the critical part about it: it’s not an accident as I watch Alex at work. I see a kind of choice being made constantly.…… I’m witnessing consciousness at work even though he may not be able to communicate… but when he’s at work, there’s something very, very present with what he’s doing, and when the work is complete, you see that consciousness in the visual form. and this is to me what makes Alex’s work art.”

Chris Wilke (author& curator Victoria & Albert Museum) - “One of the interesting things about Alex’s art is that if you look at drawings that he made when he was very young, a lot of the forms, a lot of the way that he composes his art, say in the Lego pieces—it’s already there when he’s a relatively young child, 7 or 8 or so.  And I find that fascinating.  I think especially in the context of abstract art, and that’s where Alex is working. A lot of the kinds of ways in which people work seem to be established actually relatively early, unless they’re learned, unless they’re consciously arrived at. And of course, even with established artists, you don’t often know when they started working with a particular form, shape, brushstroke, composition, but it is interesting with Alex that we can look at some of his early drawings and see really similar forms, similar ideas about color.  ”

Alex Masket is now 35 years old, a few grey hairs. “Handsome as ever”, according to his mom Elaine, and he is “still making art in the same genres, still in love with legos and chocolate cake.”

Filming Alex making art over this period in his life was an extraordinary journey.  I’m eternally grateful to the Masket family for allowing me to witness this period of accomplishment in their beautiful son’s life.

Alex’s website is currently being overhauled, and when it’s done, I’ll add a link to it.

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