The Artist

The Artist (German: Der Künstler) is a 2006 slice of life brickfilm by Mirko Horstmann. It follows the story of a struggling artist attempting to please a gallery owner. It was made for Steinerei 2007 and was also entered into The TTC Contest on the Brickfilms.com forums, and ultimately won both the Jury Prize in Steinerei 2007 and first place in The TTC Contest.

Plot
While in his front garden, an artist witnesses a large lump of clay fall out of the back of a truck. The artist takes the clay into his house and begins to mold it. Eventually, he finishes his sculpture: a minifigure version of The Thinker. He takes his sculpture to the art gallery and presents it to the gallery owner. The gallery owner rejects it, and the artist returns home.

After some thought, the artist begins to mold another lump of clay. Eventually, this sculpture is also completed. This time, the sculpture is abstract. The artist takes his new sculpture to the art gallery, but again it is rejected. As the artist returns home, he has an idea.

Once again at the art gallery, the artist reveals his new masterpiece: a sculpture of a LEGO brick. The visitors are pleased. Back home, the artist goes to bed. Before he sleeps, he looks at his two rejected sculptures: The Thinker and the abstract. As the artist goes to sleep, the film ends with the message: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Cast

 * Mirko Horstmann as Artist, Gallery Owner, Visitors
 * Andreas Muschkat as Visitors
 * Stephen Kuhagen as Visitors
 * Ulrike Quass as Visitors

Awards
In addition to its competition wins, The Artist was nominated for two awards in the 2007 Brick Award for Film Arts:


 * colspan="1" rowspan="2"|2007
 * colspan="1" rowspan="2"|Brick Award for Film Arts
 * Best Film
 * Nominated
 * Best Director
 * Nominated
 * Best Director
 * Nominated