In John Wilson’s compulsive video narrates on the streets of New York, as seen in his HBO series How To with John Wilson (2020– 2023), the director starts ostensible objectives, typically migrating to other discursive ideas and subjects, only to connect it up in unexpected and often amusing ways. Along the method, we normally encounter an unlikely cast of characters. His very first feature movie, The History of Concrete takes a likewise circuitous path with the titular building product. Concrete– consisting of cement, water, sand, and stone– at its heart, is both solid and ephemeral. The word originates from the Latin “concretus” suggesting compact or condensed, the passive participle of “concrescere“=”con-” (together) and “crescere” (to grow).
The material’s flexibility and durability is echoed in Wilson’s destination to all things concrete and his usage of it as a metaphor for issues of life and death. David Ehrlich in IndieWire noted the film “straddles the divide in between incorrect permanence and ephemerality. People make skyscrapers and highways out of it. They scratch their names into the mixture before it dries as a quote for immortality. They utilize it to build the burial vaults that sustain them into the sweet hereafter. It is nothing less than the foundation of contemporary facilities.”
Concrete is the glue that holds the city together. Throughout the movie, Wilson mentions the product’s existence in the developed environment: from 5-foot-by-5-foot walkway pieces (and the rogue mounds that act as makeshift ramps), some with signatures inscribed; to the fill-in tree plots that avoid drainage. He likewise talks about concrete’s indication of just how much building and construction is taking place in New York City: “you’re completely surrounded by cement trucks.” At one point, Wilson meets the Gumbuster, (“call 866 U-GOT-GUM”), whose job is to tidy gum spots off the sidewalks, “Gum resembles the birdshit of people; anywhere individuals gather there is gum.” He likewise strikes the pavement himself, roving through the city, visiting the sets of 2 feature films in one day (Marty Supreme and Caught Stealing), which Wilson, in an interview with AN, described as “2 different versions of New york city at the exact same time”