Time capsules. The collage films of Arthur Lipsett

The figure of Arthur Lipsett occupies one of the most original and exciting fringes of editing and film collage. His work, which fascinated filmmakers as varied as Kubrick, Brakhage and George Lucas, was interrupted by Lipsett’s mental problems (he suffered from bipolar disorder) and the torment that led to his suicide, at the age of 46. He started out making sound collages, which he then transferred to his brilliant, enigmatic pieces produced by Canada’s NFB: combinations of images and sounds, in films of recycling and deconstruction, ironic and sarcastic visual essays about consumerism or critiques of the mass media, with jazzy or syncopated rhythms that illuminated a sense of cinema and a unique way of thinking.

Very Nice, Very Nice, Arthur Lipsett,1961, video, 6 min; 21-87, A. Lipsett,1964, 16 mm, 9 min; Perceptual Learning, A. Lipsett,1965, video, 11 min; Free Fall, A. Lipsett,1964, video, 9 min; A Trip Down Memory Lane, A. Lipsett, 1965, video, 12 min; Fluxes, A. Lipsett,1968, 16 mm, 23 min; Lipsett Diaries, Theodore Ushev, 2010, 35 mm, 14 min.