Until Saturday, my favorite art forms were ones involving repetition, but now I realize that it is really the story behind the art that makes me enjoy it. Repetition is art that almost doesn't require additional explanation of the story; however, there are plenty of impressive works that require a bit of explanation to appreciate how impressive they are. Fitzcarraldo is the movie that opened my eyes to this new viewpoint.
Without knowing the backstory of Fitzcarraldo, it is an average movie that almost certainly would not work in the modern era. Knowing that the movie has the extra layer of actually watching a madman haul a boat over a mountain is what makes it impressive and a must-watch film. Seeing the famous clip of Herzog lamenting about the miserable trees frames the entire movie. Special effects can make anything seem real (such as giant robots terrorizing cities), so one has to have a crazy vision and drive to create a film without special effects.
Naturally, this goes beyond just film. The most memorable artwork I saw last year was a giant black piece of paper. It is somewhat impressive in a gallery, but then made more impressive when you discover that it was made using hundreds of black crayons. What a miserable work to create! The effect is far more powerful and impressive once it is revealed. Surely, after reaching a halfway point, the artists must have dreamed about ripping the canvas in two and calling it good enough.
Having a crazy idea, then continuing to follow through in the face of every shred of logic pointing in the opposite direction is a unique character trait. Likely, this just results in sadness and failure, but every now and then it results in art that speaks far beyond what is displayed.