Monk in Pieces – Meredith Monk
Monk in Pieces is a portrait of visionary composer, performer and interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk, who overcame hostile and sexist criticism to become one of the most original artists of her generation. Now, in her seventh decade of creativity, she reflects on how such singular work can continue without her. Centered around Monk’s music and featuring interviews with Björk and David Byrne, the film unfolds as a mosaic echoing the structure of her own compositions, revealing her radical vocabulary of sound, movement and imagery. As a woman in the male-dominated downtown arts scene of the 1960s and ’70s, Monk had to fight fiercely for recognition, despite early, openly dismissive reviews. As Philip Glass notes, she remains “the uniquely gifted one.” In its final chapters, the film confronts mortality and legacy, following Monk as she entrusts her masterpiece ATLAS to a new generation for a production at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. After decades of absolute artistic control, she must learn to let go — and ask what will happen to her work once she is gone.
