Variations In Space: The Architectural Sculptures of Richard Lippold
Variations In Space: The Architectural Sculptures of Richard Lippold
Part 1 on preview cassette 222273A, Part 2 on preview cassette 222273B. VARIATIONS IN SPACE: THE ARCHITECTURAL SCULPTURES OF RICHARD LIPPOLD 2 hour 16mm color sound film, started ca. 1976 and completed in 1986, this is a series of four thirty minute films: Part I NEW MOONLIGHT shows how Lippold became a sculpture, and his early work, including a detailed discussion by Richard on the sculture that defined his carrer--NEW MOOLIGHT. Part II THE SUN gives the hsitory and development of Lippold's masterpiece: Variations on a sphere No. 10, commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. Part III THE FOUR SEASONS further develops the architectural sculptures, with emphasis on Lippold's work with master architects, and culminating in The Four Seasons resaurant in the Seagram Building, NYC. Lippold's works around the world are summarized and shown. Part IV WINGS OF WELCOME shows the sculptor in his 80s still actively at work, and follows one of his latest works in the atrium of the Milwaukee, WI, Hyatt hotel. The film concludes with Richard summarizing his life and work while sitting beside MAN, a self portrait in sculpture, and the end titles summarize and locate the scultures shown in the film, and are accompanied by Richard playing the organ he has sculpted in his Long Island studio. This film was planned for public television, and was completed with their encouragement, but in the 10 year period I spent making this film, public television lost interest, and to date the film has never been publicly shown. Richard also changed his viewpoint, from original encouragement and enthusiasm, some financial support, and praise for my editing as we met over the years to shoot, record and screen sections for him, to a request that the film be extensively recut, and sections he felt did not do him full justice be deleted, and finally, after a screening in his own studio with a few friends, and after receiving a copy of the completed film, and a (July 1979) 30 minute 16mm sound color print of an early version, and repeated requests on my part to reedit a second version to his desires, he has shown no interest in the project. Without his support, and without interest from Public Television, and with no interest from educational filkm distributors since government cutbacks in educational film funding, and with other projects occupying my time, I have put this film aside, with regret, and hope someday to reintroduce it to the market. My intention from the beginning was not to produce an art film, but rather to show persons who are not artists what it is like to be an artist, and how one man decided to become an artist, and hiow he achieved his goal. In short,m a film of general interest to a wide audience, and to give the viewer a new viepoint. What it taught me instead is (1) I can make a 2-hour documentary film which maintains an interesting point of view throughout, (2) it is futile to invest time and money in a project for which there is no demand (3) get a commitment, not a promise, when starting a new project for Public Television. It's a good film, though.