[silence]
[rolling] [chuckles]
[Declan, voiceover]: I want to be an artist
who expresses nature and-and who can see um, why, like,
how nature feels.
[Man]: What goes through your mind when you paint?
Um, I wonder sometimes.
I wonder what I should paint.
Do you know how much money
your paintings are selling for?
No, I really don't care
because money... [groans] Not my thing.
[trippy music ♪...]
[whooshing]
[Declan, narrating]: As we grow up,
things get complicated.
That's just the way it goes. [groaning]
[monitor beeping]
[Declan, narrating]: But when you're six,
everything is simple.
Someone sticks a brush in your hand,
you push the paint around.
It's of no concern to you if that a person then
turns around and sells that
painting for hundreds of dollars.
Or thousands.
[mouthing words]
How many third-graders have
art collectors bidding for their craft projects?
Or go to countless
photo shoots after school instead of soccer practice?
And how many 15-year-olds understand
the classical proportions
of a woman's breast without ever having touched one?
Prodigy.
That was the word they always used.
But it took me a long time to understand its meaning.
[alternative pop music ♪...]
[chattering]
[bottles clanking]
How come your sister, is such a radster and you're such a square, Declan?
Hey, Lanie!
Get away from my brother.
Why?
I never wham-bammed an art star before.
Yeah, but he's not interested in your gonorrhea-fire sale.
Is that true?
[elongates] I don't know.
[girl]: Oh, my God!
[crowd chanting]: ...four, five, six, seven!
What the hell, Alexia?
What on Earth are you thinking?
This is not acceptable. - Why? What's the big deal?
Mom, he's having a good time.
Out! The party's over. Everybody out!
[crowd muttering]
[door squeaks] Are you still gonna
coddle your sweet little prince when he's in his 30's?
It's a delicate balance with him.
[Alexia]: He gets whatever the hell he asks for,
I can't even invite a couple friends over.
[Prudence]: You're not like him, Alexia.
'Cause I'm not little Johnny Rembrandt.
That is not it.
[Alexia]: His paintings are fucking boring,
that's why we're slumming it now.
[Prudence]: Don't say that, we're managing.
Yeah, for how long?
Look, can you just try and maintain just a teeny bit
of sensitivity when it comes to your brother?
A calm environment.
[Alexia]: I'm just giving him
some artistic food for thought.
Got any better ideas?
[electronic music ♪...] [Serge moans]
[Prudence]: It would be a complete 360, Serge.
I've given Declan every opportunity.
The fairy dust of youth has worn off.
He already has a bunch of pieces.
That I have not seen!
It's a major risk for my business, Prudence.
Then you'll do it for me. [Serge moans]
[heels clicking]
- Ease the pace. - We're late, Declan.
[Serge]: What this show is really about is profile.
Your profile and how it has evolved.
And now, suddenly, 18. Declan!
Dix-huit ans. It's your coming of age,
it's a rite of passage into the adult world.
All new work by the man!
Not the cute little boy,
this time it's for real.
You need to blow their fucking minds out!
I want to see brains splattered
against the back wall when they look at your work.
Do you understand this?
And there will be people all over the world coming.
Can you deal with this Declan, are you ready?
[reluctant sigh]
Of course he is ready, Serge. This isn't his first show.
I pick the phone tout le monde est la but the work has to be
[elongates] spectacular, no?
Show me what you got.
Here's some of his latest pieces.
[clicking]
[clicks harder] [groans syllables in French]
This will not work, it won't work.
This will not do! You're not a child, anymore.
You can't just rely on your rendering skills!
Con-cept-ual art, Declan!
The idea behind the work, not just its execution.
You mean like pop surrealism,
urban romanticism, magic realism?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
But none of which I am seeing here.
This contradicts totally what
we need to express in this show.
Do you understand me?
Yeah. Yeah, I got it.
Explore your world, Declan. Find something to say!
I can do that.
You will do that.
- All right. - All right.
[laughs] Three weeks.
Much work to be done, very exciting.
[mouths word] [alternative rock music ♪...]
[sighs]
What's with Serge wanting
to do a big solo show all the sudden?
He's confident he can kick-start your career again.
Well? What do you think?
[Declan]: I guess I'm just not sure
if I want to be kick-started.
[Prudence]: Why wouldn't you want it back?
I don't know, maybe I'm sick of it.
Come on, you love making art.
[sizzling]
[Alexia]: Aren't you supposed
to ask me things about my life?
Like, "how did your day go today, sweetie?"
Do you have to?
Sweetie, what do you want to drink?
Just water.
Declan had a big meeting today.
Mm. That's great, Deku-chan.
You're really gonna ram your prodigy art star status
up the intelligencia's sphincter this time, huh?
You like that?
Getting a little hair on your chest.
Well, this is delicious.
Is it a hint of teriyaki I saw you dumping in there?
Maybe next time you can just
whip us up something a little more gourmet?
If dad was here, he'd cook something nice.
Declan, don't.
Right. Can't talk about death.
Thanks for dinner, mom. - You're welcome.
[alternative music ♪...]
[Declan, narrating]: Starting out,
inspiration had never been a problem for me.
I'd just see something
I'd like the look of and I paint it.
When you pretty much mastered realism by the fourth grade,
nobody really cares what your subject is.
Basically, everything I did was welcomed with open arms.
What is it about your hormones
kicking in that suddenly
everybody starts expecting something of you?
[loud booms]
Anybody here? [sizzling]
Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?
We're all a little hurt on the inside.
Are you just going to stand there or do you want to help?
Whoa. What is it?
An experiment.
I never seen anything like it before.
What now?
I go in and take a look.
[pop electronic music ♪...]
Hey, what's your name?
[Cassandra]: Cassandra Moon.
Whoa!
You guys actually live here?
What did cat drag in?
- Declan. - Yo. Agit.
And that's Flash.
That's Ingrid, that's Cap'n Tar,
and back there is Raquel
trying to make the rest of us dizzy.
Agit?
Department of Agitation and Propaganda.
Feel me?
The whole thing just didn't stick, so...You want a beer?
Sure.
Let me see some I.D.
Seriously?
- No. [chuckles]
[groans] What the fuck? - Oh, I'm so sorry!
Oh, my God! - Watch it!
What happened to your arm?
I fell down some stairs.
Aw, man! I'm sorry to hear that.
Don't be, he did it on purpose.
- Really? [Flash]: It's a social experiment.
[Ingrid]: See how you're kind of being nicer to him?
I guess.
Being handicapped brings out the best in other people.
Nobody asks anything of me.
I get more pussy than
an animal shelter and I haven't
paid for a meal in two weeks and three days.
[everyone chuckles] So. What's your deal?
I paint.
Don't we all, honey?
No. For real.
Uh, you might have heard of my stuff.
Declan Trust. I'm in some major collections.
But you're, like, 12.
I've got a show coming up, it's Serge Bedal.
You guys should come.
I don't do galleries.
Cass has got a thing against
main-lining the corporate art world.
[Flash]: Profiteering off creativity
gives her the heebie-jeebies.
I just like to paint.
[chuckles] What's wrong if people want to buy it?
[Cap'n Tar]: Well, it's not the selling,
it's the selling-out that's not so cool.
Do you tailor your material to a mainstream audience?
Not on purpose.
Do you expand your creative
paths to encompass a wider following?
I don't...really think of it that way.
So you value success at the cost of credibility.
- N-no, I'm really not... ... [Agit]: Or maybe you're just
a hell of a good painter.
[Cassandra]: Are you a hell of a good painter, Declan?
[♪ Kaki King: "Montreal"...]
You don't have to answer.
You can show us.
[Agit]: Oh, snap!
Dude, the chesticles are out, it's on now, bro!
[slowly laughs]
[Flash]: You never seen a naked aerial dancer before, kid?
You do not suck, kid, I'll give you that.
Nice.
Sign that shit. That's probably worth some cake.
[everyone chuckles]
[Flash]: Who's selling out now?
[Cap'n Tar chuckles]
[testing instruments]
[beats drum]
[amp feedback]
[footsteps]
Hey.
Let's go.
What?
Where?
You'll see.
Ow, fuck!
What, too heavy for you?
No.
Good.
[ambience]
[♪♪]
Here, hold these.
And keep an eye out.
Okay.
Uh, I have a criminal record.
Should I be impressed?
I just saying, how illegal is this?
You mean, like a crime?
[laughing]
Technically, it's a class two misdemeanor,
defacing property,
except for a second or subsequent conviction,
for the offense, it's a class one misdemeanor,
which means, deeper shit, bigger fine,
and, possibly, the slammer.
Then there's always the arson factor.
Just to mess with people's minds,
with some weird, cryptic slogan?
"Everything changes."
What does that even mean?
Impermanence, the constant state of flux.
[sirens in distance]
There's some projection of a "happier me,"
that we're all driven by.
I'm this kind of person,
and I should be having this or that kind of experience,
but I'm not getting my due.
You hear what I'm saying?
- Sure. - But if you see every moment clearly,
if you see that there's no one version of you,
that's gonna project into the future,
and all of a sudden be happy,
then you're gonna be totally liberated,
from the longing and envy of a better life.
You think people are gonna understand all that,
from two words in the pavement?
[sprinkling powder]
If they're paying attention.
[metal can clanking]
Oh, nice.
You get cardboard, I get rocks.
Let's do this, tough guy.
[rocks hitting concrete]
Alright, step back.
W-w-wait, a-are you sure about this?
Come on.
[high-pitched ringing]
We should go.
[♪♪]
Wait, what now?
I go home and sleep.
Really? That's it?
That's it. Peace out.
Did you get any sleep?
Not yet.
I don't like you just staying out like that, Declan.
- I know. - It's off routine.
Want some eggs?
You know where this can lead.
Is that what you want?
Did you take your medications?
Yeah.
Look, I gotta meet Serge's designer at the printer,
and then run a bunch of errands.
Okay.
So, you're gonna stay in the studio today,
get some painting done.
Yes.
So, you have to go to the center?
Yup, how much longer do I have to do that for, anyway?
Till your 60 hours are up.
[sighs] Sometimes I think I'd be better off,
if they just sent me to juvie hall.
[♪♪]
I'm smoking a cigarette out your window.
[laughing] I don't even know,
how you get any work done in this tiny space.
Most people move out to Brooklyn to get more room.
Hardy-har-har.
Don't stop on my account.
You don't like your subway clown?
I'm just trying something different.
[snickering]
It's different, alright.
Bozo looks a little like Serge Bedal,
but with mom's makeup all over his face.
Kinda like real life.
How's that?
You know they're schtuping, right?
Yeah.
[♪♪]
This family's all class.
[laughing]
That's excellent, Roberta, very vibrant.
Whoa, vibrant.
That's nice, maybe try pressing down a little more,
with your crayons.
Okay.
Not drawing today, Mr. Draffen?
Got nothing to draw.
What about the apples you started last week?
They're looking great.
You're trying to convince me,
that those are the same apples as last week?
They're apples.
These ones are ten times shinier.
Maybe you can finish by,
thinking back to the last ones.
[laughing] Are you fucking kidding me?
I'm 87 years old, I can't think back to breakfast.
I would give you last week's apples,
but they would be rotten by now.
You think I don't know that?
You done it all, huh?
Seen it all.
Well, try taking in the world,
staring down the barrel of a 12 gauge shotgun,
which is your own god damn ticker about to give out.
I've lived through 17 presidents,
six American wars,
and God knows how many wet behind the ears,
delinquents trying to teach me something.
The older I get,
the thicker the bullshit piles up around me.
Lay off the kid, he's just trying to help you.
Just mind your own business, Roberta.
Touchy, touchy.
Ahhh, don't be such a nudnik.
A nudnik?
An annoyance, a pest, a pain in the ass!
[old woman]: Jackass.
Fart-face. A bunch of old people.
Everything copacetic in here?
Oh, just teaching the kid a little Yiddish.
Maybe just stick with the drawings.
Yes, sir.
[♪♪]
It's nice.
[♪♪]
Hi.
- Declan, right? - Yeah.
You looking for Cassandra?
[chuckles] Is she here?
[♪♪]
Hi.
You don't scare off easy, do ya?
Was that what you were trying to do?
Maybe.
Did you like what we did last night?
Yeah.
You want some more? [fast-pace rock music ♪]
[all laughing]
[car alarm goes off]
[sirens in a distance]
[Agit]: Hey, wait up. Who wants to get strange?
[group chuckles]
Have you ever done this before?
Then just eat a cap and a stem.
[♪♪]
Oh, these taste like shit.
Makes sense. That's what I grew 'em in.
[♪♪]
[all laughing]
[♪♪] [Raquel cheering]
[Declan]: Wait, get down, get down!
[all laughing]
[♪♪]
[both laughing]
Look at him, he's tripping his balls off.
Do you like it?
It really-it really, uh, opens the whole thing up.
[techno music ♪...]
There you fuckheads are!
What are your panties all in a knot for?
You invite everyone you know over for a bash,
then you barely even show up.
Bro, it's only midnight.
You're tripping? You're fucking tripping!
Hey, a little help? A little help.
[heavy ambience]
[alternative rock music ♪...]
[woman, echoing]: Hey Hot-wheels,
how did you do this to yourself?
[echoing] I fell down the stairs.
Oh, poor thing. Where does it hurt?
Everywhere, sweetheart.
[♪♪]
Drink this.
- [echoing] What is it? - [echoing] Purple surprise.
- Surprise? - Yeah.
Thirty beers, a handle of Vodka,
an entire jar of pink lemonade powder mix,
two liters of grape drink, ice, stir, and voila.
Go get 'em champ.
Dude, you want some of this shit?
[♪♪]
[chattering]
[thumping music in the background]
[muffled singing]
[slow, high-pitch squeal]
[banging on the door] [Man]: Hey, Asshole!
Fifteen minutes you've been jacking off in there.
Not cool bro! [Declan growls]
[♪♪]
That guitar player really seems to like his own sound.
You can see his boner!
[loud swoosh] [girl]: Even if she can render
the fuck out of what she sees,
when a woman tries something a little different,
a little more abstract, they say she's lazy.
She can't hack it. She doesn't have the chops.
But if a guy does the exact same fucking thing,
there's someone there
to prop up that douche-nozzle ego.
Women have to work twice as hard and we are still
fighting our asses off to get
anyone to notice our art, you know what I'm saying?
But, like, by default if you've got a pair of tits,
it's all anyone ever sees.
So fucking typical.
You're only competing with yourself.
Nice.
[amplified heartbeat]
- Where is everybody? - Um.
On the roof, bro. - Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
[♪♪]
[whooshing]
[cell phone ringing]
[♪♪]
[police sirens in a distance]
[Ingrid]: All my friends,
my family.
When they're not here with me, it's just like they're dead.
And for all I know, they are.
They certainly will be.
That's the whole point.
What is?
Being human.
Birth, then old age, sickness and death.
That's it.
That's what we're all doing here.
But it isn't fucking fair.
What's fair got to do with anything?
What about you, Declan?
Why do you think we're all here?
Just to see it all, I guess.
To take it all in, and then
to let it go.
[♪♪]
Motherfucker!
[♪♪]
I love your name. [elongates] Cassandra.
[Cassandra]: It's not my real name.
It's not? What's your real name?
My parents forced me to see a shrink back in Wisconsin,
because I was acting out.
Shoplifting. Stealing cars for joyrides.
Just getting hysterical.
And the shrink decided that I had a complex.
A dysfunctional relationship
with what she called the "Apollo archetype."
Basically that I was allergic to our culture.
Sounds like a quack.
She said I'd developed a deep distaste for order and reason.
That I was obsessing over
society's disavowing itself of anything dark or irrational.
I can relate to that.
And that these factors constituted
a "Cassandra Complex."
Ahh.
But you can call me Cass.
I don't think so.
[moans softly]
Is anyone here?
[Flash groans] All better?
Fuck, God! The experiment failed.
Turns out, this shit attracts the wrong element.
How's that?
Chick with dick.
[chuckles]
Hair of the dog?
No, I'm okay, thanks.
I actually feel surprisingly good.
Now's probably a good time to ask you a favor then.
I want in. On your whole scene.
How do we make that happen?
I don't even know what you're talking about.
Whatever's hot right now. I can do performance art.
I'm an ideas man. Gadgets. Throw a brush in my hand.
Whatever. We can do this. Let's make this happen.
Why are you looking at me like a lost puppy?
I'm just wondering where everyone went.
Well, the soiree expired, and as they tend to do,
our guests returned to their own abodes.
I guess I mean, uh...
- Cass? - Yeah.
Do you have a cell number
for her or something? - Nah man,
Cass is kinda off the grid.
You're not putting all of your eggs in that basket,
are you kid?
She's kind of got an untamed streak.
[scoffs] It's not like that. I just want to find her.
Suit yourself.
She's usually stalking
some wall in Williamsburg for a chance to light it up.
Williamsburg's a big neighborhood.
Thanks. [♪♪]
Shouldn't you be pounding 15-year-olds anyhow?
That's what I'd be doing if I were in your shoes.
[♪♪]
[rock music ♪...]
[water running] [door squeaks]
[door slams]
Where the hell have you been?
I've been calling you every
15 minutes since 12 last night.
Hey, Picasso,
there's a pile of empty
canvases back there with your name on it.
Excuse me.
I'm trying to talk with your brother here.
Two nights in a row?
Sweetie, come on, you're not taking care of yourself.
I'm doing great.
You should see the place I've been hanging out.
And some of the people I've met.
You think these people are going to take care of you
Declan, if things turn?
[Alexia]: Not to mention we're about to hit ground,
and this show's probably our last shot.
All right, I told you to stay out of this.
I'm pointing out the elephant in the room here.
Elephant in the room. I like that.
Sanitized conceptualism
meets sissified abstract expressionism.
That could work. - Declan, come back here!
Declan!
[techno-pop music ♪...]
Organization and order.
That's what you thrive on, that's what you need.
Declan!
[♪♪]
Shit.
That is no joke.
Hash. [chuckles] Who knew?
This sure beats sitting
in my studio wracking my brain for what to paint.
Why are you wracking your brain?
Why not just paint whatever you like?
That's not how it works anymore.
Bidal says I have to change the way I see things.
Fuck Bidal.
You should be free to express
yourself in whatever the hell you want.
Yeah, I should.
[Raquel]: Hey, maybe not
when you're stoned out of your gourd.
How does the world look upside down?
Awesome, but I think I'm gonna puke.
Oh, shitballs!
What? [Declan sighs]
I think I'm late for my community service.
And you're gonna go like this?
What's the worst they could do?
Give me more community service?
[amp feedback ♪...]
Hey, you should come.
We can do a couple more blades first.
[♪♪]
[rattles door]
[whispers] Holy shit.
[Cassandra]: Can't we just go get a falafel?
[chuckles] Relax. They're gonna love you.
Hi, guys.
You're late.
I know, but I brought an assistant with me.
This is Cassandra.
You're not Tina Goldberg's granddaughter, are you?
Uh, I-I don't know. Who is she?
This girl that I put her to it
in a subway stop in Queens when I was a teenager.
Real flexible. You look exactly like her.
Your teeth are nicer though.
- Well, thank you. - Okay, then.
Um, what do you guys want to draw today?
How 'bout your girlfriend naked?
How about Cassandra with her clothes on?
What am I supposed to do? Just, sit here?
Well, Cassandra, is the Daughter of Priam.
The Princess of Troy. The spurned love of Apollo.
Wow, you did some research.
She who entangles men!
True.
She agreed to be Apollo's consort,
and in turn was given the gift of foresight,
but when she refused to pleasure Apollo,
she incurred his wrath... ...and God spat in her mouth!
[Cassandra]: That's kinda hot.
Why isn't anybody drawing?
Are you on drugs?
[Declan]: We, uh, why don't I pose for you guys?
I'll be Apollo, um, and let her be...
[both giggling] her...
[indie rock music ♪...]
[Cassandra]: How am I so burnt out,
and you're still flying high?
I'm just really in the zone.
All my feelers are vibrating outwards.
It's a bummer that you're burnt out.
You want a coffee
or an energy drink or some green tea or something?
Are you holding out on me?
Did you do some cocaine when I wasn't looking?
[chuckles] Just high on light and sound waves.
And the particles of dust in the air.
[chuckles] Are you always like this
when you're "in the zone?" [knocking]
Oh, hey mom, how are you? How was your day?
Yeah, this is my friend, Cassandra.
That's so funny that you guys
don't even know each other yet.
Uh, this is my mom
but you probably guessed that, already.
Mom, Prudence, Cassandra. Cass.
- Declan, can I talk to you? - Sure. Shoot.
In the kitchen.
[sighs]
- What's up? - What's going on?
What? Why? Everything is great.
Did you see that painting that I'm working on in there?
Serge is gonna be psyched, right?
Your supervisor called me.
What?
- Drugs, Declan? - And in costumes. [chuckles]
Look, I know the idea of ending up back
in the hospital is some sort of joke for you,
but Declan you're just-you're pushing it
to the painful point.
How old is that girl?
Shh! I don't know, mom?
She's, like, 20. Who cares? Who cares?
When was the last time you took your meds, Deck?
Fuck. What is this? Don't you trust me?
Mom. Mom. I'm painting.
I'm putting in my time at the center.
I'm keeping it all together.
I'm getting ready for your big show.
Can't you just relax?
Declan, you know I'm the
last person to comment on your work,
but that painting in there with the pills...
... You broke into my studio?
Mom, you don't understand what is going on with me right now.
That's not true, Declan.
Well then just ease up, okay?
And give me a little leeway here.
Leeway?
Is that girl gonna spend the night in my house tonight?
That's none of your business.
This is my apartment.
Oh, my God, Declan, I am your mother.
Of course it's my business.
Yeah, but who's-who's work pays the bills for this place?
Since I was six, mom.
I've been cranking out the goods for this family.
Declan, I have done everything
so that the world could see your work.
I've given up absolutely everything.
Including your clothes on the gallery floor?
Bingo.
Boingo. Boingo.
[♪♪]
Is your mom gonna come in here and chaperone us,
or just kick me out?
Forget about her.
Let's get naked.
What makes you think I'm gonna get naked with you?
The look on your face.
[♪♪]
[Cassandra moans]
[♪♪]
Aren't you tired? No, not really.
You're such an anomaly.
How so?
You're like this really old soul,
but completely wired up and chaotic.
What did you do to land
yourself in that old folks home?
Nothing much. I woke up on the floor.
In the wrong house.
My dad had a massive brain aneurism,
like, four years ago and I kind of went off the deep end.
He had a lot of reservations about my being constantly
bounced around art galleries and show openings.
I guess he just wanted me to be a normal kid.
Yeah.
Kind of lost my shit when he died.
That's understandable.
But my mom bulldozed me through more or less.
This show that you're doing.
You're gonna be 18 in a few days, right?
Mm.
So then you can do whatever the fuck you want to do.
Stop selling your work if you want.
It's not that simple.
In my world,
they won't let me just throw the whole thing away.
That is not your world. That's your mom's world.
Everybody has screwed up family shit.
Yeah, I have a half-sister that I've never even met
because my dad fucked a prostitute in '96.
No way.
Maybe we should go find her. Maybe not.
So sleepy.
[guitar playing alternative sound ♪...]
[♪♪]
Will you do something for me?
Holy crap. You're a maniac.
What is all this?
[Declan]: The fall of Troy.
These look like U.S. soldiers.
- I'm modernizing it. - Fuck you, Boy Wonder.
Why?
Time passing, but we just keep repeating the same mistakes.
This is solid fucking shit. - It's all right.
It's not really what I'm after.
Listen.
I really want you to do something for me.
It depends what it is.
I want you to do a wall for my show.
I told you that is not my scene.
Bullshit. Who cares.
- I care. - I'm asking you to burn down a wall of Bidal gallery.
How can you refuse that?
I'll burn down the whole fucking gallery.
That's fine, too.
[♪♪]
Your mother has been calling me.
What the hell am I supposed to tell her?
That I'm working.
[Serge]: Four days till the show.
I need to be seeing this work. You get me?
It's my reputation on the line.
You're gonna get your splattered brains,
just like you wanted.
You just gotta trust me.
You need to show this work to me,
or it will not be in my gallery.
How would you feel if someone leaked to the press
that the only reason Serge Bidal is doing this show
is because he's fucking the prodigy's mom, huh?
What would that do for your reputation?
Oh, and this little bitch! What the hell is she doing?
This shit is stinking up my gallery!
Please just wait, you'll see.
"Just wait. You'll see."
I'm a bloody gallerist, not a fucking babysitter.
I thought you were going to do
something like your other stuff.
The nature of impermanence, things change,
the flow of time and all that.
But this is...this is cool.
Just shut up and hand me those matches.
[screams] Fuck! Oh!
Oh, my God!
Oh, shit! [muffled screaming]
What the fuck is going on?
I think we need to go to a hospital.
Oh, come on!
[quietly groaning]
[physicist, on TV]: When Hubble was used
to measure how the expansion
of the universe has changed with time,
it turned out, quite surprisingly,
that during the first half of cosmic history
the expansion rate was actually slowing down.
Then a mysterious force, a sort of anti-gravity,
made the universe hit the gas pedal.
Starting the acceleration we see today.
This suggests an extraordinary fate for the universe
because it implies that the anti-gravity force
is getting stronger all the time.
If this continues,
it will eventually overwhelm all gravity
and catapult the universe into a super-fast acceleration that
will shred everything into its constitute atoms.
Cosmologists have called this
nightmare scenario the Big Rip.
The key to this theory is dark energy.
A hypothetical form of energy that is currently estimated
to make up 473 percent of the universe and that will
ultimately break down all gravitational structures.
Sixty million years before the end,
gravity will be too weak
to hold individual galaxies together.
In the last three months, solar systems will crumble.
A few minutes before the final collapse,
stars and plants will disintegrate and then finally,
in the last fraction of a second, every single atom...
- ... Thank you. - ... will be destroyed.
[piano playing ♪...]
[Ingrid]: What happened?
[Flash]: Are you ripping off my idea?
Dude, enough with your stupid-ass social experiment.
[Cassandra]: I barbecued my hand a little.
She was helping with my show.
- You were? [Cassandra]: It's not your fault.
It kind of goes with my medium.
How are you going to do your thing without your hand?
I'm not sure that I am for a little while.
Declan, is your show totally
fucked now that your assistant hurt herself?
'Cause I gots a mean brushstroke, bro.
You dickhead.
[Declan]: I've got some paintings.
Some mixed media, but this show needs more than canvas.
Something otherwise.
What does it need?
Would guys join me on the roof for a moment.
Sure.
Fuck yeah.
Did any of you take physics in high school?
- Fucking hated that shit. - I flunked it.
- [Ingrid]: Sure, but why? - Entropy.
[loud whoosh]
[Declan, Narrating]: The universe began
with a cataclysmic explosion.
We started out with order,
but isolated
thermodynamic systems tend to increase over time,
approaching a maximum value so that the entropy of everything
we know is progressively slipping towards disorder.
And that disorder isn't good.
We are slowly but steadily moving towards "heat death,"
in which our universe will evolve into
a homogeneous distribution of thermal energy.
So in other words,
as time keeps moving into the future,
we are ultimately all on a crash course with destruction.
A deep, dark, black, fucking hole.
[Flash]: You're channeling some heavy shit, bro.
Yeah, but what does this have to do with your show?
Everything.
[upbeat rock music ♪...]
What are you all working on?
The study of matter.
And its motion through space-time.
Yeah. All right.
[♪♪]
Oh, you know, these got mercury in them.
I'll take care of this, but...How do you want this?
In-in plastic or paper?
[whoosh sound]
[♪♪]
[beeping sound]
[Declan]: Art store. Wardrobe. Sporting goods.
[♪♪]
[Declan]: Get all the brushes. No even brush.
What's going on?
Mom's been looking everywhere for you.
Declan, who are these people?
We are all just travelers.
You're just gonna sweep through here?
What the hell am I supposed to tell mom?
Tell her we were never really here.
Declan, I'm trying not to be a bitch for a second,
can you just tell me what the fuck's going on?
[crackling]
[alternative rock music ♪...]
[hammering]
[drilling]
[hammering]
[drill whirling]
[crackling]
Declan, will you come up here for a minute?
Go get your freak on. I got this.
[♪♪]
How are you feeling?
What do you mean?
You're acting kind of groundless.
We're all groundless. You know that. - Okay, Declan.
You're freaking me out a little.
Has my mother gotten to you?
What are you talking about?
Well, you can just report back
to her that it's all coming together over here,
and that for once I'm steering the goddamn ship myself.
I haven't talked to your mom, Declan.
- Maybe you don't have to. - What?
What's happening?
You're acting like a different person.
Every seven years
all the cells in the human body completely regenerate.
So if you haven't seen someone for seven years,
and suddenly you see them again,
are you seeing the same person?
Seven years?
We're talking about a couple of days.
We try to create a continuum
between who we were yesterday
and who we hope to be tomorrow.
But can you really find a correlation?
Declan, you are not listening to me.
Are you shushing me?
The apparent motion of the sun
across the sky or a second
as defined by atoms emitting radiation.
Time is overtaking us,
and we better get it right this time,
because there may not be a next time.
That's super fucking poetic Declan,
and I dig how deeply you're feeling the impermanence tip,
but you're completely missing the point.
It's not about some nihilistic extreme.
Just roll with the uncertainty.
Since the singularity at the beginning of cosmic time,
the hour is overtaking us.
But we're just going to have to roll with the uncertainty.
You said it, brother.
[♪♪]
[Prudence]: Hello? - Hi.
It's Declan's friend, Cassandra.
Can I come up and talk to you for a second?
[intercom buzzes]
[♪♪]
[Prudence]: Do you know anything about this?
[Cassandra]: Yeah, look.
The way he's acting, and what he's doing,
it's pretty out there.
[Prudence]: How exactly is he acting?
Somewhere between the messiah and a human ATM machine.
- Declan has a mood disorder. - What?
He's bipolar.
[Cassandra]: Oh. Shit.
Look, I guess I'm here to ask for you help
because I don't know how to deal with any of this.
Well, you certainly figured out how to trigger it.
You don't think being touted as a hyped up circus freak
from age six might have taken some kind of a toll?
Hey, look, um, Cassandra, is it?
When you were learning to recite your A,B,C's,
Declan was churning out photorealism with crayons.
So you fed him to the jackals?
Where the fuck is my son?
Are the of two really fixed
on having a little bitch fight right now?
Don't let me stand in your way, mom,
really if you're about
to start the hair-pulling and clawing.
Otherwise, I think we should
focus our energies on rounding up that little bastard.
[slow rock music ♪...]
[Cassandra]: It's up here on the left.
This is it.
I just want to say, before we go in there,
if what Declan is working on is blockbuster hot,
maybe we should just let him
do his thing until the show's over?
I'm just sayin'.
[♪♪]
[alternative rock music ♪...]
[♪♪]
No, no, no.
No! Not this one! This is bullshit!
This has got to go!
Listen Brohemian, there is no discussion here.
Every detail is to Declan's specifications.
This goes, everything goes.
I don't even know who he is.
But this is my fucking gallery!
Prudence! Your son is a fucking monster.
Look at this show!
Where is he? I need to see him.
All right, this is the problem. I don't know where he is.
He's not here?
You see Declan,
I need to talk to him!
Serge, we just need to call this whole thing off.
We just need to postpone the show... - ... No, no, no, no.
You're joking, you're joking. This isn't possible.
Unless, of course, you want to pay for the advertising,
public relations and my fucking overhead!
Will you call me immediately if you see him?
Of course.
Of course I'll have you
come back and you can spank his little bottom.
[alternative rock music ♪...]
[♪♪]
[loud boom]
[boom]
[Flash]: Nice one!
What the fuck are you morons doing?
Shootin'!
[Flash]: What's up, Cass?
You wanna take a turn?
Agit went to Connecticut, got his grandpa's 12-gauge.
It's for the opening tomorrow night.
Excuse me?
It's part of the art.
We're not gonna hurt anyone or anything.
Are you fucking idiots?
Are you out of your minds?
Or are they transcending fixed mind?
This has got to end.
Everything does.
Can't you just relax, Cass?
What we're working on is super subversive.
You'd totally dig it,
if you'd just ease up and be a part of this thing.
Ever since you charred
your hand you got so fucking mellow.
Whatever happened to Cassandra the anarchic radster?
She's just trying to figure out if you guys know
what the point is to all this shit?
Are you gonna tell them, Declan?
About your condition? That you're sick?
Sick? What are you talking about, Cass?
The dude is a fucking oracle!
You narbs are only playing along because he's
shelling out money like it's
the last few days on the planet.
You read the news lately? Maybe it fucking is.
Besides, this isn't about the money.
[Ingrid]: What's the big fucking deal, Cass?
You go around lighting
the sides of buildings on fire.
What we're doing's tame by comparison.
I don't even know if I should
try to reason with you, but I would love to know,
what is this all for?
- To build the art machine. - The art machine?
- You caught a live one there. - Indeed.
If I hear that fucking gun go off one more time, Agit,
it's going to be going off in your direction.
- We're all part of the machine. - Shut the fuck up.
[pop-electronic music ♪...]
[chattering]
Okay, we're gonna go get some more champagne, more pinot.
This, I still hate.
[woman]: It's all so primordial.
So lawless and impolite.
He's really breaking fertile new ground.
Completely non-conformist.
[reporter]: So, what do you think of your brother's work?
This new Declan?
I'm starting to see a semester abroad in my future.
Rome, maybe?
Everything he's doing,
the brushwork, the mixed media, the sculptures.
Yeah, I know. It's, uh, very different.
It's a masterful combination. Don't you think so, Rene?
I want it!
Yes, darling.
- Is-is he here? - I don't know.
I don't think so.
My roommates won't tell me shit.
Some big secret.
This show's been 18 years
in the making for you.
Now your baby is all grown up.
How do you feel? Proud? Anxious? Sad?
I feel proud.
[woman2]: I totally think I get it.
Impermanence is here to stay.
It's just so full of unruliness and symbolic chaos.
He's amazing, right?
Welcome to the art machine.
Declan, I love your work!
Now that we have your undivided attention.
I'd like to show you all how this works.
Cassandra Moon taught me that whatever is subject
to origination is subject to cessation.
From the age of six,
I have been a curiosity to most of you.
A boy wonder.
This show was meant as a re-introduction.
A coming of age. A rite of passage.
Order, disorder, chaos.
No matter how we measure time, all things change.
And you are here tonight
to witness first-hand the new Declan Truss.
A profound evolution.
[Flash]: Oh, shit! Oh, shit!
Get out of the way!
Someone call an ambulance.
How'd I do?
Are you crazy, Declan?
You ruined everything! - Fuck off, Serge.
[♪♪]
[radio chatter]
[muffled assurances]
Wait! Wait!
Wait, wait! No! No! [muffled screaming]
[♪♪]
[groaning]
Get off me!
Fuck!
[exhales]
[man]: Where does your inspiration come from?
[Declan, off camera]: It comes from my mind, it comes from nature,
what I look at.
I like expressing feelings, you know?
Like, when you paint, like right now,
I just did ap-apples and pears,
I expressed how I feel about vegetables.
Fruit.
When you grow up what do you want to be?
I want to be an inventor and an artist.
Some people want to be famous. - But not you?
- Yeah. - You just want to paint.
And enjoy the time.
- What's your favorite color? - Orange.
What's your favorite thing to paint?
What my mom tells me to do.
So, you just had your first big solo show.
How did it go? - It went okay.
I didn't like that people kept coming to me,
kept asking me questions.
Like, um, "how did you do this?
How did you do that?"
Yeah, and everyone's crowding me.
But you sold so many paintings.
[piano playing ♪...] That went well.
[♪♪]
[Declan, narrating]: When someone sticks a brush
in most kids' hands, typically the worst thing
that can happen is a lot
of paint on the floor
and a brown smudge tacked onto the fridge.
But my little brown smudges took on a life of their own.
I was never exactly given
a say in what I wanted to do with my life.
I was more like
a mechanical device that's only designed to do one thing.
From the outside,
I appeared as the child with an incredible gift.
But more and more on the inside,
I had started to feel just like a machine.
[♪♪]
[Declan, narrating]: Everyone wanted me
to fit in a mold I could no longer squeeze into.
I simply wasn't willing
to accept that anymore.
From the start, I was a pre-packaged commodity.
Sold to the highest bidder without any say in the matter.
But I was put to market as something I really wasn't.
Only by shattering
all the concepts
and expectations that people have out of my work,
was I able to kill off that clean-cut child.
Is this arsonist's block?
How about "I'm over the moon for you, Cass."
Get it? Over the moon? 'Cause that's her last name.
Or, uh, "I want to light your heart on fire."
Or, you could go with
something more general, like,
uh, "Sorry for leading you and your roommates down
this crazy goddamn rabbit hole
and then destroying my own fucking hands on your watch."
That's got a nice ring to it.
You think there's enough pavement for that?
Hey, no hard feelings, my unstable little brother.
I came out of this thing just swimmingly.
Got myself repped by your fancy metrosexual gallerist
and my shit's selling like hotcakes, so.
Better you than me.
Sorry to disappoint, but you oughtta save your matches.
After the whole gallery fiasco, Cass moved out.
Sent so much as a postcard,
or otherwise, I'd be happy
to provide you a forwarding address.
Look, uh, I got a shit-ton
of commissions to work on,
but if you want to roll inside,
tap a few beers,
put your feet up on the Art Machine,
kick it for a bit, I'm down.
- Maybe a raincheck. - Yeah. I feel you.
[rock music ♪...]
[♪♪] [groans]
[door opens]
[door squeaks, closes]
[keys jingle] [Prudence]: Hey.
Hey.
What are you doing? That doesn't hurt?
No, it's fine.
How was your interview? - Fine. I think I got it.
Cool. Congratulations.
Sorry I'm not bringing home the bacon anymore.
Don't be sorry.
You know, Declan, you probably could have made
your point without taking this quite so far.
I'm not so sure I could have.
Hey, Mom? - Yeah?
I don't want to hurt your feelings,
but I think I can finish this myself.
[alternative rock music ♪...]
[♪♪]
Thanks for giving me a lift.
Hey Deku-chan,
I've been trying to stop myself from telling you this,
because I don't want you to go for an encore,
but I thought your show was pretty bad-ass.
That's nice of you to say.
You really ready for this?
You sure you don't want to go
get some gloves or something to cover that shit up first?
- Bye, Alexia. - Bye.
[♪♪] Hey, Roberta.
Oh, hey, you're back! I'm glad to see ya.
I really missed our classes. Are we going to paint today?
Yeah, but I gotta warn you,
I'm not much with a brush these days.
Yeah, well, that's all right. We're all learning anyhow.
[Declan, narrating]: There's one remarkable thing
about going nuts.
[♪♪]
[Declan, narrating]: Through all the confusion,
sometimes you find a little more clarity.
[swoosh]
[alternative rock music ♪...]
[♪♪]