DC/DOX 2025: 'Monk in Pieces,' a Work of Art About an Artist at Work

Meredith Monk. Does the name ring a bell? It didn’t for me, but that didn’t stop the film about her from making me feel as if I’d known her for years. Billy Shebar’s Monk in Pieces, the concept album/documentary inspired by the experimental artist, is the most true-to-form biographical film I’ve seen since Gary Hustwit’s Eno. For those similarly unfamiliar with the underground icon, have no fear: the uniqueness of her sound is made remarkably accessible by the plethora of archival footage built around it.  

Monk in Pieces premiered at the Berlin Film Festival back in February. Filmmaker Shebar linked the origin of his project to his personal friendship with Monk, as his wife has been a dancer in her troupe for over thirty years. Despite the unwavering clarity of vision demonstrated by his muse, Shebar attested that he remained in creative control of the project. He divided the film into chapters bearing names such as "Falling," "Turtle Dreams" and "Teeth Song," titles that reflect both her professional projects and personal dimensions. Novice fans may thus enjoy the opportunity to follow along with her career evolution and while gaining insight to the invariable abstractions that her work contains. It is, as the Q&A moderator attested, “a film about an artist that is also a work of art.”

Monk's conceit as a creator lies in how she relates music to the body. At 82 years old, she is still active in the performance art community and continues to style her hair in the signature braids of her adolescence. Interviews in her modest studio apartment are juxtaposed with an immense collection of archival video, satisfyingly edited to reflect the continuity of her artistic motifs over time. In another display of careful curation, Shebar compiles written quotes from male critics who pan her work, narrated with the snotty diction of those who deride the avant-garde as inherently nonsensical while lauding composer Philip Glass (her most recognizable male contemporary) in the same breath.

Monk was often condescended to for her “little girl”-ish appearance, and an entire segment called “The Eye Thing” is spent exploring the social differentiation caused by the physical perception of her strabismus. Otherwise, Shebar focuses on the metaphysical – the ancient origins of Monk’s art, her dream journals (with corresponding animated recreations), and comfort with circumventing language to express herself. Many of her operas are pure melody and rhythm, with their sounds, at their most familiar, mimicking animal calls or channeling religious vocalization tradition. Other times, she transcends the past by experimenting with the full range of the human body, such as in the case of Teeth Song – an idea suggested by none other than the Dalai Lama – which is exactly what it sounds like.

Monk's specificity of inspiration often left performance arts funders baffled by her process, but she nonetheless managed to secure financing and legendize her unconventional style. Still, she reflects: "maybe this is a whole thing that I made up to confirm that I exist." Grandiose self-delusion or not, her demeanor in training artists in her school of thought is as resolute as any. The documentary’s defining feature is a montage of musicologists attempting to qualify Monk’s style over Zoom. Free to accentuate and transform the sophisticated vocabulary of the elite as they talk themselves into a corner of academic uncertainty, Shebar’s masterclass of editing reinforces the unclassifiability of Monk’s genre. She even has her own unique prefix in the New York Public Library (which is also the source of much of the archival video). 

Ironically, the final line of the film – dictated by Monk – tells you exactly what genre the film is. If her assessment gives you pause, good: really, it’s a reminder that we should not be putting people or their work into categorical boxes. Monk has pushed many boundaries over the course of her career, fighting the mainstream by nurturing big ideas that felt true to her. With that passion came a potent legacy that remains undiscovered by many. This film is bound to stoke a new fan base. 

Monk in Pieces will have a limited theatrical release in July, courtesy of Zeitgeist Films. 

-Lydia