Picasso's Guernica Goes 3D (VIDEO)

First came Titanic, then came The Lion King and now Guernica; epic works of across visual media are being intensified through 3D technology. Guernica, Picasso's 1937 masterpiece captured the suffering of Northern Spain's Guernica when it was bombed by German warplanes. The work made masterful use of erratic spatial relations, employing flatness to illustrate the destruction of the conventions of space and the collapse of the conventions of humanity.

How then, will an artwork which radicalized the meaning of two dimensions translate into the 3D arena, a technology normally reserved for action-adventure blockbusters? This piece was made by Lena Gieseke, the former wife of visionary filmmaker Tim Burton, and gives a close-up, three dimensional tour of the painting, as if the viewer is entering Cubist space itself. The video navigates and illuminates the collapsed dimensions, highlighting the radical strangeness of the figures and the realms they occupy. The shattered complexity communicated through Guernica is not mitigated but heightened in its portrayal of immense tragedy.

While so often 3D is used without regard to the subject matter it is addressing, this manifestation of the technology is surprisingly touching and effective. A kitschy meme or modern take on Cubism: what do you think?

Learn more about the original piece below:

Picasso's Guernica , 1937 from Smarthistory Videos on Vimeo.