Paul Clipson

Paul Clipson
Born1965
DiedFebruary 3, 2018 (aged 52–53)[2]
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • projectionist
SpouseYelena Soboleva[3]
ChildrenAnya Kamenskaya[3]

Paul Clipson (1965 – February 3, 2018) was an American experimental filmmaker and projectionist based in San Francisco. He is best known for his collaborations with musicians, such as Grouper and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma.[2] Clipson's work usually took the shape of "hyper-imposed improvisations" edited live while his musical collaborators performed. Only later would he go back to edit a performance into a film.[4]

Early life

Clipson was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Scottish designer Ann Gemmell Clipson and professor of architecture Colin Clipson.[3] He grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and moved to San Francisco in the 1990s.[1]

Career

In 1995 Clipson filmed his friend and performance artist Adam Heavenrich publicly improvising in San Francisco. The footage was captured on Super 8 film and largely edited in-camera. This resulted in BUCKY, a series of two-minute-long short films releasing over the next few years.[5]

Clipson's work often took the shape of collaborations with musicians and sound artists. Inspired by musicians' "freedom to create on a whim", he used Super 8 and 16mm projectors to layer his film footage in a live environment.[2] This type of work started in 2003 when Clipson began composing the visuals for the live performances of Cantu-Ledesma's band Tarentel.[6] The two had been friends and colleagues since Clipson hired Cantu-Ledesma to work at the SFMOMA in 2002.[1] They discussed the ways music and film can work together and started performing together.[7] Three years later Clipson officially joined Tarentel as their full-time visual artist.[1]

Clipson has been working as head projectionist and AV manager at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art since around 2000.[1][8] In 2014 Clipson released REEL, a book composed of drawn and written notes from 1999 up to 2013 composed by Clipson for his colleagues at the museum. The book was published by LAND AND SEA.[9]

In 2015 Clipson collaborated with Harris on an experimental feature-length film called Hypnosis Display. The movie was a commission for Leeds Opera North. For the music Harris employed field recordings and cassette tapes.[10]

In a 2017 Interview, Clipson details his creative process. He usually records footage without a purpose in mind to later use it in live collaborations with musicians, calling these sessions "hyper-imposed improvisations". Clipson goes on to describe his short films as "crystallizations of particular sections of footage I’ve become close to".[4]

Paul Clipson died on February 3rd 2018.[1]

Influence

In a 2017 interview, Clipson names American filmmaker Bruce Baillie as an influence.[4] A 2018 obituary written by personal friend Max Goldberg and archived by SFMOMA shines a spotlight on Clispon's knowledge of film history. Goldberg goes on to mention the many influences on Clipson: Baillie, Otto Preminger, Chantal Akerman, Jonas Mekas, Stan Brakhage, Orson Welles, Frank Stauffacher, Saul Bass and Elia Kazan, among many others.[11]

Zabriskie Point by Michelangelo Antonioni is one of Clipson's favorite movies.[10]

Reception

Otie Wheeler, writing for MUBI Notebook, calls Clipson "an experimental, lyrical filmmaker in the tradition of Stan Brakhage".[4]

Clipson's death has been mourned by many artists worldwide, but especially in the local bay area scene. Scott Barley called Clipson an "inspiration" and an "unsung luminary of the moving image".[2] In an obituary, William Basinski was quoted saying "He is brilliant. I adored his work the minute I saw it."[6] "It was at times quite remarkable how he could uncover through his visual medium things that I never would have heard in my own music," says Sarah Davachi. Another collaborator, Gregg Kowalsky, noted that Clipson's excitement was palpable to all of his collaborators.[6]

Filmography

Year Title Notes Ref(s).
1996 BUCKY 1 [5]
BUCKY 2
1998 BUCKY 3
BUCKY 4
1999 BUCKY 5
2004 Bump Past Cut Up Through Windows Music by Tarentel [12]
Big Black Square
Put It On The Ground
2005 Two Suns Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
2006 Earthlight Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Over Water
Watercolor Night Montage No. 7 Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
The Lights and Perfections
Constellations
2007 Passageways Music by Tarentel
Corridors Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Sun Place Music by Tarentel
Echo Park
Tuolumne
The Phantom Harp Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Bend Sinister Music by Metal Rouge
2008 Within Mirrors Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
2008–2009 Sphinx On The Seine
2009 Chrorus
2009–2012 Origin Music by Che Chen
2010 Union Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Light From The Mesa Music by Barn Owl
2011 Compound Eyes No.1 Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Odonata (Compound Eyes No.2)
Diptera and Lepidoptera (Compound Eyes No.3)
Araneae (Compound Eyes No.4)
Caridea and Ichthyes (Compound Eyes No.5)
2012 Speaking Corpse
Another Void
The Crystal Text Music by Young Moon
Absteigend Music by Evan Caminiti
Landscapes Dissolves Music by Alex Cobb
2013 Other States Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
Difficult Loves
Bright Mirror
2013–2014 Light Year Music by Tashi Wada
2014 Transparent Things Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
La Paloma Music by Austin Cesear
Hypnosis Display Music and sound by Liz Harris [10]
Pulsars e Quasars Music by Arp [12]
The Liquid Casket / Wilderness Of Mirrors Music by Lawrence English
Made Of Air Music by Grouper
Trajections Music by Arp
Love After Love Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
2015 Come On Music by Ilyas Ahmed [12]
Distorting With A Shadow Music by Alex Cobb
Lighthouse Music by King Midas Sound and Fennesz
2016 Fell on My Face Music by Young Moon [4]
Feeler Music by Sarah Davachi
Love's Refrain Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma [12]
Headache Music by Grouper
2017 Cruel Optimism Music by Lawrence English
Spectral Ascension Music by Byron Westbrook
Total Fiction Music by Shinya Sugimoto and Jeremy Young
Tenderness Music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
at hand Music by Sarah Davachi
Black Field Music by Zachary Watkins

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Twells, John. "Remembering Paul Clipson, the filmmaker who brought the music of Grouper and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma to life". Fact. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Jones, Kevin L. (February 5, 2018). "Paul Clipson, Visionary Filmmaker and Projectionist, Dies at 53". KQED. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Horrocks, Hilary (June 21, 2023). "Scotsman Obituaries: Ann Gemmell Clipson, artist, designer and champion of change at the National Trust for Scotland". The Scotsman. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Wheeler, Otie (September 21, 2017). "Parallel Worlds: An Interview with Paul Clipson". Mubi's Notebook. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Andersch, Brecht (June 2, 2010). "Thursday Night! Paul Clipson and Adam Heavenrich's Super-8 BUCKY Cycle Performed Live!". SFMOMA. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Dayal, Geeta (February 12, 2018). "Paul Clipson (1965–2018)". Frieze. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  7. ^ Pickowicz, Natasha (July 3, 2021). "Within Mirrors: An Interview With Paul Clipson From 2011". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  8. ^ "A Tribute to Paul Clipson". SFMOMA. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  9. ^ Clipson, Paul (March 9, 2014). "Paul Clipson's "REEL"". Mubi's Notebook. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Dayal, Geeta (April 7, 2015). "Interview: Grouper and Paul Clipson Discuss 'Hypnosis Display'". KQED. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  11. ^ Goldberg, Max (June 2018). "Eye of the Beholder: Paul Clipson (1965–2018)". SFMOMA. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d Browne, Dan. "Cinema for the inner eye: On the films of Paul Clipson". San Francisco Cinematheque. Retrieved October 1, 2024.