Cornell, 1965

It’s the magus of Utopia Parkway again. As the title suggests, Cornell, 1965 was shot in the 1960s, although the footage wasn’t assembled as a film until 1978 when director Lawrence Jordan added his narration and a Debussy soundtrack. Jordan had been Joseph Cornell’s assistant in the 1960s, and his footage was meant to document details in the workroom where Cornell made so many of his boxes. The details are mostly of the boxes that didn’t get sent to the galleries, half-finished or damaged works which the camera explores in close-up. Jordan also managed to capture a few surreptitious shots of the camera-shy artist from an upstairs window. Cornell didn’t like to see himself on a screen but he loved the medium of cinema, using it to fuel his imagination—an early issue of View includes his star-struck paean to Hedy Lamarr—while also making short films of his own. Many of the latter, including the celebrated Rose Hobart, may be seen at Ubuweb. Elsewhere on { feuilleton } • The Surrealism…