Cotton Candy poster

Cotton Candy

8.0(1)200256m1

Gehr uses a mini-digital recorder to look back on the Machine Age in the form of San Francisco's soon-to-be-shuttered Musee Mecanique. For slightly more than an hour, Cotton Candy documents this venerable collection of coin-operated mechanical toys—including an entire circus—mainly in close-up, isolating particular details as he alternates between ambient and post-dubbed (or no) sound. By treating the Musee's cast of synchronized figures as puppets, the artist is making a show—but is it his or theirs? Gehr's selective take on the arcade renders it all the more spooky. There's a sense in which Cotton Candy is a gloss on the moment in The Rules of the Game when the music-box-collecting viscount unveils his latest and most elaborate acquisition. (It also brings to mind the climax of A.I.: The DV of the future tenderly regards the more human machine of the past.) (J. Hoberman, The Village Voice)

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Status
Released
Budget
—
Box office
—
Language
English
  • san francisco, california
  • avant-garde
  • mechanical toys

Top billed cast

Behind the camera

Director

Ernie Gehr

Produced in

United States of America

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Release dates

  • United StatesUS

    • PremiereMuseum of Modern Art30 Apr 2002
  • GermanyDE

    • PremiereBerlin International Film Festival13 Feb 2003

Frequently asked questions

Cotton Candy was released on 30 April 2002.

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