On its surface,Jeremy Workman’s documentaryLily Topples the Worldis absolutely delightful. How could one feel any scorn towards a film about a young woman who pursued her dream of doing cool things with dominos?Lily Heveshbecame a YouTube star through an incredibly niche interest, and it’s always exciting to see someone pursue a unique passion that makes them an inspirational figure. And yet Hevesh’s story raises more important questions that Workman never quite grasps or even cares to pursue. When your subject refers to herself as a “Domino Artist”, what does that mean? What does it mean to be “an artist” and to pursue that art? The fact that Hevesh’s journey is more about commerce than artistic expression should challenge our perception of her, but Workman is all too happy to move on to the next event of Hevesh doing domino works in the pursuit of viral fame. Hevesh’s work is fun to watch, but is it “art”?Lily Topples the Worlddoesn’t know nor does it seem to care.
Lily Hevesh became a YouTube star with her channel Hevesh5 (named after being the 5th member of her family) where since the age of about 10 she’s been doing elaborate domino projects. These impressive designs have garnered her acclaim and attention, and while she does go off to college, she soon decides that her future is in pursuing dominos full time and trying to launch her own line of dominos. The film briefly touches on her YouTube stardom, what it means to be Internet famous, and what it was like for Hevesh to grow up Asian-American in an adoptive white family in New England, but mostly the film is a series of events where Hevesh works for some kind of corporate interest like the Seattle lottery orThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
I don’t begrudge Hevesh her success, and the film is consistently sweet and charming as we see not only what Hevesh will build (and knock over) next, but the small but devoted community of fellow dominos enthusiasts she has working alongside her. It’s a nice story of someone having a niche interest and finding a way to make that their life’s work and calling. And to be sure, Hevesh’s domino constructions are exciting, and you could lose yourself in a YouTube rabbit hole of watching these videos.
But where I get hung up is that Hevesh, by her own description, is a “Domino Artist”, andLily Topples the Worldis not about art, but commerce. For Hevesh to refer to herself as an “artist” is a misnomer. The ability to do grand and creative things is impressive, but is it art? If a basketball coach draws up an exciting play, is the coach an artist? Is art nothing more than designs plus engineering? For example, when Hevesh is building a grand project and some of the dominos she knocks over are in the shape of Dash fromThe Incredibles, does that mean anything? It’s not so much that art needs to be “deep”, but it does need to express some kind of intention to create a response beyond “That’s neat.”
This may seem like an odd and grumpy response to an apparently nice, kind, and creative young person who just wants to do domino builds. But if we’re going to qualify someone as an artist in the age of YouTube, someone with a massive platform who is winning the hearts and minds of her Gen Z viewer, then we need to explore what art means, and in the context ofLily Topples the World, it’s nothing more than a means to commerce. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with commerce, and art and commerce are frequently intertwined in a capitalist society. I think it’s fantastic that Hevesh can do what she loves and get paid for it. But for the film, her journey and challenges aren’t trying to find a personal expression with her medium, but rather trying to get her own line of branded dominos.
And that makes me wonder how someone who comes up on YouTube, where success is defined by clicks, likes, and subscriptions, perceives herself as an artist. Workman’s direction lacks the inquisitive approach necessary for a good documentary, and soLily Topples the Worldis ultimately nothing more than PR for Hevesh. It’s great PR, and I’m sure it will only expand her profile and make more people eager to work for her and for her fans to buy her branded dominos, but it does nothing to advance the conversation about what it means to be “an artist” working in a unique medium (dominos) on a burgeoning platform (YouTube). That’s the conversation worth having, but Workman is far more comfortable letting Hevesh serve as a pleasant ambassador for pretty designs.
