Robert Beavers

by Rebekah Rutkoff (Editor)

In a career spanning five decades, Robert Beavers has distinguished himself as one of the most important American avant-garde filmmakers. From My Hand Outstretched to the Winged Distance and Sightless Measure , his cycle of 18 films made across Europe since 1967, to Pitcher of Colored Light (2007) and The Suppliant (2010), intimate portraits shot in the U.S., Beavers has produced a deeply original film language framed by his use of colored filters and mattes. His investigations of the handwork of anonymous artisans complement his dialogues with Ruskin, Leonardo, and Borromini in Ruskin (1975/1997), From the Notebook of… (1971/1998), and The Hedge Theater (1986/2002). This volume contains critical investigations of Beavers' most important films and a collection of the filmmaker's own writings. Occupying a unique space between poetry and philosophy, his aphoristic meditations vivify his own work and generously illuminate the art of film.

Genres: Film

224 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2017

Reviews

[Empyrean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beavers' films have long been tragically maligned due to their relative obscurity but these essays make a strong case for their importance, both in terms of cinematic history and personal artistic expression. They also span a wide bearth of topics, demonstrating the openness of Beavers' films to a diverse array of interpretations. My only qualm is that too often the essays seem written 'around' Beavers films rather than directly 'about' them but perhaps this only points to the difficulty of the material at hand here.