Himself
Alexander Calder revolutionized the art of sculpture with his distinctive modernism, freeing sculpture from its stand and adding movement to the art itself. He rose to fame in the 1930s with his renowned Miniature Circus but his modernist creativity skyrocketed with his wire sculptures, an invention he dubbed "drawing in space."
himself
Documental acerca de las creaciones de Alexander Calder.
8 x 8: A Chess-Sonata in 8 Movements is an American experimental film directed by Hans Richter, Marcel Duchamp, and Jean Cocteau. Described by Richter as "part Freud, part Lewis Carroll" and filmed partially on the lawn of Duchamp's summer house in Southbury, Connecticut.
Alexander Calder
Le Grand Cirque Calder, es contrariamente a su nombre, un circo en miniatura. Este film "de amigos" de Jean Painlevé es el primer registro sobre el célebre circo que Calder fabricó en París entre 1926 y 1931. Es también el registro más completo, con un total de 28 atracciones. Painlevé brinda al público la visión de un espectador cómodamente sentado, con economía de planos y movimientos de cámara. Poco ortodoxa, esta idea de filmar un “documento” no siempre fue comprendida en su época y el director propone a Calder retrabajar el film y hacer un “verdadero” documental insertando el punto de vista de los espectadores. Finalmente, y para nuestra alegría, lo dejó como estaba, con Calder mismo como maestro de ceremonias, omnipresente y omnipotente.
Himself
The film begins with a sun materializing out of the emptiness of space. In the first of three sequences we see various images from nature against music: the sky, trees, leaves, a bird, water, sand, a beach. A little boy wanders along the beach observing the natural world around him. He walks and presently comes to a house and peers inside. The second sequence has no music. The narrator speaks of sculptor Alexander Calder and his work, as we see Calder in his workshop, cutting and creating unusual shapes, and seeing the resultant artworks. The last sequence has music as we view images of Calder's work. However, now they are intercut with images from nature so that we understand that Calder's inspiration is the natural world around him. The film ends as it began, with an image of the sun, now fading into the sky.
