Magical Universe

Oct 31, 2014

1h 20m

★ 6.2

Imagination can take you out of this world.

Overview

A documentarian strikes up an odd friendship with reclusive 80 year old outsider artist Al Carbee, whose strange Barbie-doll photography gains acclaim and interest over the course of the project's multi-year history. Far beyond a portrait of an eccentric, Magical Universe is about wonder, friendship, and the transcendent power of creativity

Genres

Documentary

Magical Universe Trailers

Cast

self

Al Carbee

The story of artist Edith Lake Wilkinson, a painter who was committed to an asylum in 1924 and never heard from again. All her worldly possessions were packed into trunks and shipped to a relative in West Virginia where they sat in an attic for 40 years. Edith's great-niece, Emmy Award winning writer and director Jane Anderson, grew up surrounded by Edith's paintings, thanks to her mother who had gone poking through that dusty attic and rescued Edith's work. The film follows Jane in her decades-long journey to find the answers to the mystery of Edith's buried life, return the work to Provincetown and have Edith's contributions recognized by the larger art world.

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0.0

Man and Mask, Oskar Schlemmer and the Bauhaus Stage

Jan 1, 1969

Documentary on the design and choreography of Oskar Schlemmer (1888-1943), an artist and teacher associated with the Bauhaus. After a discussion of his artistic philosophy and goals, illustrated by his drawings, reconstructions of his choreographic works are seen in action, each with a brief introduction.

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0.0

The Wall Street Bull

Jul 8, 2014

The Wall Street stock trader were astonished when they passed at a five-metre bronze statue of a bull on there way to work on December 16, 1989. Also New York's Mayor and city administration wondering who had placed the three-ton work of art there. One of the most unusual and imaginative artists of our time was behind the action: the Sicilian-born Arturo Di Modica. This is the story of the statue, which became a symbol of Wall Street.

0.0

Shoot

Nov 19, 1971

November 19, 1971, F Space, Santa Ana, California: “At 7:45 p.m. I was shot in the left arm by a friend”.

0.0

Alex Colville: The Splendour of Order

Jan 1, 1984

A view of the life and works of the late Alex Colville, the celebrated Canadian painter. Shows the influence on his life and works of his experience as an artist during World War II, and of his relationship with his wife, Rhoda. Friends and critics speak of the construction and sense of menace in his work, and Colville comments on his sense of order, goodness, and contingency.

0.0

No Ideas But in Things - the composer Alvin Lucier

Mar 23, 2012

“Don’t ask me what I mean, ask me what I’ve made” – inspired by this motto, the documentary accompanies the American composer Alvin Lucier (1931 - 2021) on concert travels to The Hague (Netherlands) and Zug (Switzerland). Lucier explains and comments on his œuvre – from his early live electronics performances (MUSIC FOR SOLO PERFORMER,1965 and BIRD AND PERSON DYNING, 1975) up to the premiere of his ensemble piece PANORAMA 2 in 2011. One of Lucier’s key works, I AM SITTING IN A ROOM (1969), is introduced as a central structuring device in the film. At home in Middletown, Connecticut, Lucier offers rare insights into the beginnings of his pioneering works, his time as a member of the Sonic Arts Union, his relations with John Cage and David Tudor, as well as his teaching practice at Wesleyan University.

5.0

Burning Man: Art on Fire

Aug 16, 2020

An inspirational insight into the spectacular art at the center of this annual celebration, BURNING MAN: ART ON FIRE follows the unpredictable journey of the artists who defy reason to bring their massive installations and sculptures to the punishing Nevada desert. Filmed just after Burning Man’s legendary founder suddenly died, the community of artists is challenged by impossible timing and blinding dust storms. This richly cinematic, multi-character narrative unfolds over months as they imagine, build and ultimately burn the extraordinary main structures in this temporary city of dreams…a poignant and uplifting feel-good movie!

6.5

Cesar's Grill

Oct 3, 2013

In order to rescue his father's ramshackle grill restaurant, filmmaker and vegetarian Dario Aguirre is traveling back to his homeland Ecuador. What starts out as a strange debate about opening times, chips and Excel spread sheets, develops into a moving family drama.

0.0

Mudflat

Aug 24, 1980

Years ago, artists would walk around the muck at the edge of the San Francisco Bay in Emeryville, and build loads of sculptures out there on the flats, created from driftwood and found objects that drivers would enjoy as they motored south on the old Highway 17 (known in numerous radio ads as 'Highway 17, The Nimitz'). Grabbing material off someone else’s work was considered fair game and part of the fun, and contributed a kinetic dynamic to the ongoing display. Now the place is a park, and the sculptures are gone, but you can see what it used to be like in this neat and funny documentary by Ric Reynolds, augmented by Erich Seibert’s wonderful musique-concrète/time-lapse sequences. The flashback circus sequence includes Scott Beach and Bill Irwin. Sculptors interviewed include Walt Zucker, Tony Puccio, Robert Sommer, Ron & Mary Bradden, and Bob Kaminsky.

0.0

La Victoire de Samothrace, une icône dévoilée

Jan 1, 2014

A documentary about the statue Winged Victory of Samothrace, unquestionably one of the most complete expressions of Hellenistic sculpture

0.0

Alice Pasquini - Figlia del mondo

Dec 15, 2019

The documentary, made by the students of RUFA documentary course, followed Alice Pasquini for many months, resuming her pictorial interventions, interviewing friends and family, collecting archival material and participating in meetings for the realization of the book. The flow of images is a sort of specific itinerary that Alice Pasquini takes when she decides to give form and substance to what her mind imagines.

0.0

Bolero: A Global Hit

Jan 1, 2019

Bolero is played every 15 minutes in the world. This film tries to answer how this famous melody inspired and influenced the world pop-culture? It explores the complexity and the richness of a piece so simple in appearance: the emotions it triggers, vertigo it creates, the words it inspires.

0.0

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Monumental Art

Sep 9, 2018

In the summer of 2018, on the Serpentine in London's Hyde Park, world-renowned artist Christo created his first public work of art in the UK. Inspired by ancient Mesopotamian tombs, the Mastaba is constructed from 7,506 painted oil barrels and weighs six hundred tonnes. It is the latest work in a career spanning half a century and stretching across the world. His work to date have included surrounding 11 islands off the Florida coast with pink polypropylene and wrapping Berlin's Reichstag and the Pont Neuf in Paris. This programme charts the creation of the Mastaba - from the first barrels being put on the water to its final unveiling - and paints a portrait of Christo as he looks back on a life spent making provocative works of art with his wife and partner Jeanne-Claude.

6.7

Botticelli

Sep 27, 2015

Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is both a cultural icon and a lasting source of artistic inspiration. His famous female figures, like Venus and Primavera, have become part of our shared visual memory and influence artists worldwide. Berlin director and art historian Grit Lederer explores Botticelli’s life and work, focusing on the Gemäldegalerie’s impressive collection. The film examines how his iconic paintings continue to inspire art and advertising today. Experts reveal what makes his style unique and why his work was forgotten for centuries after his death. Contemporary artists such as French artist Orlan and American Michael Joaquin Grey present works inspired by Botticelli. The documentary traces Botticelli’s enduring impact from Florence through Paris and New York to Berlin.

0.0

Egon Schiele: Dangerous Desires

Nov 10, 2018

The dramatic story of Egon Schiele in his own words, celebrating his remarkable artistic achievements but also debating the controversies around his work.

0.0

Condo Painting

Mar 17, 2000

John McNaughton's spotlight on George Condo and his art. The film, which follows the progress of Condo's large-scale oil painting Big Red over the course of one year, features an appearance by Allen Ginsberg, as well as footage of Condo collaborating with William S. Burroughs on paintings the two made together at Burroughs' Kansas home in the mid-1990s.

0.0

Kazuo Ohno: I Dance Into the Light

Nov 20, 2004

A documentary about legendary butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno.

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0.0

The Cremaster Cycle: A Conversation with Matthew Barney

Feb 28, 2004

For his five Cremaster films Matthew Barney's created a multitude of sculptural forms and structures. Recently both the sculptures and the films traveled to museums in Cologne, Paris and New York's Guggenheim. In THE CREMASTER CYCLE: A Conversation with Matthew Barney, the artist guides the camera through this remarkable creation at the Guggenheim Museum while being questioned by Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic of the New York Times.

6.2

The Grapes of Wrath: The Ghost of Modern America

Oct 2, 2019

In April 1939, "Grapes of Wrath" entered the pantheon of literature with a bang. Americans are at loggerheads over the odyssey of the Joad family, tenant farmers from Oklahoma who, like thousands of others, were driven from their land during the Great Depression. Eighty years have passed since the famous work was published, and 90 years since the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. To mark this occasion, the documentary examines the genesis of the novel, its themes, its renewed reception during the financial crisis of 2008.

Magical Universe

Overview

Genres

Magical Universe Trailers