Director David Cronenberg explains why he auctioned off an NFT of his kidney stones.
#Cannes2022
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Short filmTranscript
00:00You sold an NFT of your kidney stone. Why did you decide to do that and what are your thoughts on NFTs?
00:06Well, first of all, I can say that it has not yet been sold.
00:09So if you're willing to make an offer, I'm sure we could work something out.
00:13I'll tell my people to call you.
00:17I have a friend who was suffering from kidney stones.
00:20He had never had that happen before. He didn't really know what they were.
00:23And I said, well, I can show you what they are because I actually have saved my kidney stones.
00:27It might sound strange, but I found them to be quite beautiful.
00:30And I thought, you know, I don't want to get rid of these.
00:34I have some kind of connection with them.
00:37And then I started to think after I took a photo of them just for him.
00:42I said, well, this photo is really kind of strangely beautiful.
00:45It's like sea creatures or sea sponges are very provocative to me.
00:51And I thought, is this the inside of my body creating something for me
00:55and then presenting it to the outside of my body and saying, you know, this is what we've been doing inside.
00:59And maybe you should pay attention to your diet because you might want to change it.
01:03And, you know, all of that.
01:05So I thought, well, what is art?
01:08You know, what does an artist do?
01:10An artist really gives of themselves, body and soul to their audience.
01:16And really you're giving the inside of your the very insides of yourself as well.
01:23And I thought, so in a way, the kidney stones were at least a legitimate metaphor for what art is and what artists give.
01:32This film is about human bodies.
01:34I mean, this isn't the first time you've delved into this topic.
01:37I mean, Existence and Crash.
01:39Do you know where this deep interest in the actual physical human body started with you?
01:44Yeah, it started with my body, really.
01:48I mean, I think as a very young person, I was quite well aware that there are creatures on the earth who for whom reality is quite a different thing.
02:01You know, I often talk about the dog.
02:03You know, you have your dog.
02:05You're sitting.
02:06Dog is sitting next to you.
02:07You're watching TV together.
02:10But your reality and the dog's reality are totally different.
02:14In the way that things are seen differently, smell differently, sound differently.
02:19The language is a different whole, different concept.
02:23So various creatures have their own reality and it's dependent on their physical structure and how their sensory systems work.
02:31And it's a matter of evolution and so on.
02:34In other words, I think that all reality is relative.
02:37And it's relative to what our bodies are designed to give us.
02:44And as a filmmaker, what is it that you film?
02:48You film the human body.
02:49I mean, that's 90% of what you're ever shooting, probably more.
02:53You're shooting people and that's the human body.
02:57And what they're giving you, the audience, is all body.
03:00I mean, what actors are giving you is their body.
03:03And I include in that their voice, the way they move, their intensity, their charisma.
03:11It's all body.
03:12So, to me, I don't see how you could be a filmmaker and not be obsessed with the human body.