--- title: Watch James Franco's Bizarre, Gooey New Performance Art description: James Franco partnered with Sotheby's to create a video response to 15th-century glazed terra cotta art, in which models drip in gloss. canonical: https://time.com/4544482/james-franco-della-robbia-video/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-25T19:57:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:37:59.618Z og:title: Watch James Franco's Bizarre, Gooey New Performance Art og:description: Inspired by 15th-century art, Franco gets gooey with models dripping in gloss. og:url: https://time.com/4544482/james-franco-della-robbia-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch James Franco's Bizarre, Gooey New Performance Art twitter:description: Inspired by 15th-century art, Franco gets gooey with models dripping in gloss. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # James Franco's Bizarre New Art Video Features Goo-Covered 15-Century-Style Models > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 25, 2016 7:57 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 25, 2016 7:57 PM UTC James Franco continues to blaze an [eccentric art career](http://time.com/3274135/james-franco-poetry-spring-breakers/?iid=sr-link2) [across mediums](http://time.com/3888391/james-franco-new-class/?iid=sr-link8) with his latest work: a mesmerizingly weird performance art video, produced in partnership with auction house Sotheby’s. Entitled “James Franco Reimagines the Della Robbia,” it’s a minimalist, four-minute video of a number of different people (none of them Franco) being doused in a gooey, dripping clear gloss. The camera lovingly slow-mo zooms in on each of Franco’s models, turning their distorted features into a kind of disturbing abstract art. The inspiration behind the video is Luca Della Robbia, a 15th century Italian artist whose studio was known for intricate, large-scale glazed terracotta works painted in bright colors. Considered one of the greats of the era, Sotheby’s has [just launched an exhibition](http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2016/glazed-the-legacy-of-the-della-robbia-n09570.html) of the unusual style. The secret behind making the distinctive glossy terracotta works remains mysterious, as the [_New York Times_ once noted.](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/arts/design/the-art-of-della-robbia-from-earth-and-water-pure-beauty.html?%5Fr=0) So as part of Sotheby’s Artist Response Series, Franco crafted this contemporary take on the “glazed” concept… heavy on the “glazed” part. The models appear immobile as wax mannequins, glistening in their gloppy coatings as clear liquid drips on and from them. “To mimic and modernize these sculptures \[of Della Robbia\], I wanted to create living icons emphasizing the glazing process,” [he said in a release](http://www.highsnobiety.com/2016/10/25/james-franco-della-robbia/) of his approach to the project. It appears that emphasis a success. 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