I have visited great museums and seen gorgeous Vermeer paintings and been so impressed by the art. I've also recently tried my hand at painting, and seen how much easier it is to copy than to create. This movie really provokes thought as to what is art and what is technology. What Tim created was so impressive as a first painting, and it is better than any Paint-by-Numbers I've ever seen. Whether it comes close to showing the heart or creativity of the original is left unsaid and unseen, as we don't have the luxury of seeing the original, in the whole or even in the the brushwork. I don't think Tim was trying to say he could totally recreate the art; he was simply positing the theory of how Vermeer could have created it. I found it very plausible. And that does not take away from whatever beautiful technique Vermeer used in putting down each stroke of the brush. I read one Guardian critic who lambasted it, but could not put in words exactly how this painting was different than the original. I wish he could have enlightened me. I found the film fascinating, but was left wishing there was more of the original I could have seen, too (granted, they probably could not get permission).
Review of Tim's Vermeer
