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Overlooked & Underrated Docs & Features
(click on broll or dschwartz for all his posts)
Alexander Calder: Legendary Artist Produced by prolific documentary filmmaker Roger M. Sherman, broadcast on the PBS series “American Masters” in 1998, and re-issued this year by First Run Features, “Alexander Calder” introduces artist Alexander Calder and his work.
Although we ‘see’ plenty of clips of Calder working and performing—he used to put on ‘circus’ shows utilizing his small, sculptured objects—and in a few media appearances, but we don’t hear him. In interviews he spoke with a deep, mumbled voice making it difficult or impossible to understand his words.
In any case, here’s what I learned. Calder was a raging creative genius, and by ‘raging’ I mean he must’ve been making something during most of his waking hours, seven days a week.
In less than an hour’s running time. director Sherman follows Calder’s artistic development from drawing and sketching, to sculpting small pieces, to inventing/creating mobiles, to the creation of massive outdoor sculptures installed in cities around the world.
As always, I wanted more—especially covering the creation of his large, outdoor pieces. How did his designs get translated to large pieces? What was that process from paper to metal to construction?
Both the artist—a label Calder eschewed—and his work are mesmerizing. D. Schwartz May 5, 2014