{"id":8796,"date":"2014-10-31T00:08:51","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T07:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=8796"},"modified":"2014-10-29T13:38:02","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T20:38:02","slug":"live-doc-portrays-famous-idealist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/10\/31\/live-doc-portrays-famous-idealist\/","title":{"rendered":"Live doc portrays famous idealist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buckminster Fuller in front of the Montreal World\u2019s Fair geodesic dome. (photo from Magnum Photos)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Most of us know Richard Buckminster Fuller as \u201cthe dome guy\u201d or, more formally, as the 20th-century genius whose life and vision eventually led to the creation of that most unusual architectural form, the geodesic dome. His early architectural designs, set in the 1970s, would go on to win him worldwide acclaim as an early pioneer in environmental stewardship.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s no surprise in a city that has always lauded ingenuity, that vision would eventually help remake both Vancouver\u2019s skyline and our concept of enduring, smart, contemporary architecture. But what many 21st-century Vancouverites may not know is that Bucky \u2013 as he was equally affectionately called by friends and even strangers \u2013 was much more than an architect and a futuristic designer. He was a utopist, a scientist, an idealist, a linguist and probably one of the world\u2019s earliest pioneers in sustainable living.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Sam Green (photo by Joanna Eldredge Morrissey)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In fact, he was more than that, says filmmaker Sam Green. Green, who received an Academy Award nomination for his documentary on the Weather Underground in 2003, will be presenting his live documentary of Fuller\u2019s life and accomplishments, The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller<\/em>, at the Vogue Theatre on Nov. 12. Green spent several years pouring through the archives of Bucky\u2019s famous Dymaxion Chronofile<\/em> to compile this synthesis of the futurist\u2019s life, a legacy that is euphemistically reflected in the title of the film.<\/p>\n

Fuller, Green said, \u201cspent almost every waking moment trying to make the world a better place,\u201d a vision that was reflective of the immense affection he carried for the world around him. \u201cThere was something about him that struck me as very loving about his enormous amount of energy he put into his projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s vigor that seems incredibly relevant to today\u2019s sustainability movement, and our increasing focus on climate change. \u201cI was very struck by the fact that he had these conflicting set[s] of messages,\u201d said Green. \u201cHis whole life, or the entire 50 years he spent working on this project [what Green sums up simply as his effort to make the world a better place] are more relevant now than they have ever been.\u201d Doing more with less, smart design, harnessing our resources, \u201cand at the core of all of that is this idea that we have all the resources now to make a high standard of living for everybody on the planet.\u201d It was a viewpoint that not only reflected his unbridled idealism, but his intuitive understanding of the precarious balance of life on what he referred to as \u201cspaceship earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a great poet,\u201d said Green. Fuller instinctually understood the power of allusion. \u201c[He] definitely had a fantastic way with words. A lot of his books have just the most wonderful titles.\u201d Poems with names like \u201cGod is a Verb,\u201d whose title might have seemed irreverent at the time, captured the drive of a nascent environmental movement. The name of early work An Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth<\/em> \u201cwould have been a cool title in 1975,\u201d said Green. The treatise clearly showed he was ahead of his time when it was first published as a scientific paper in 1967, and it took readers by storm when it was published as a book a year later. His poems, literary works and uncanny insights into human nature have stood just as much the test of time as his many inventions and forays into architectural design.<\/p>\n

Green\u2019s live documentary is an exploration into form and allusion in itself. While this isn\u2019t the first time that the filmmaker has combined live narrative with a pre-recorded film to tell a compelling story, the unorthodox format he uses seems to lend itself to the tale of a man who was clearly not afraid to step outside of the bounds of convention. Green\u2019s personal narration, combined with the live accompaniment by American indie rock band Yo La Tengo, seems to resonate with viewers who, like Green, seek the intimate experience of that old pre-digital-age theatre production.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons I like this form is it keeps the experience in the realm of a kind of cinematic context,\u201d Green explained. \u201cYou come to the theatre \u2013 we\u2019re going to travel all the way from New York \u2013 you\u2019ll buy a ticket and come to the theatre. Everybody will turn their phones off [and] we\u2019ll all experience this piece together. It\u2019ll never be the same way twice, and there is something just wonderful and magic about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Green, who identifies himself as \u201cculturally Jewish,\u201d Fuller\u2019s story resonates with an element that he finds drives much of his cinematic work: \u201ca kind of yearning quality to it,\u201d he said, \u201ca combination of idealism and yearning, and a little bit of heartbreak that I think is very Jewish.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same essence he said that drew him to Yo La Tengo\u2019s emotive work. \u201cI very much wanted to work with them because they had the sound that expresses that. Their sound is beautiful. They make beautiful songs with a little bit of yearning and melancholy to them. And that kind of emotional palate to me is very Jewish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green\u2019s earlier cinematic work includes Utopia in Four Movements<\/em>, which was featured at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival in 2010; The Weather Underground<\/em> (2003), which premi\u00e8red at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award; and Rainbow Man\/John 3:16<\/em> (1997), detailing the tragic story of unusual sports fan Rockin\u2019 Rollen Stewart. His most recent live documentary, The Measure of All Things<\/em> (2014) about the Guinness Book of World Records<\/em>, has also been featured at the Sundance Festival.<\/p>\n

But, to be sure, The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller<\/em> isn\u2019t just about an American idealist who helped broaden global viewpoints. The Vancouver premi\u00e8re, said Green, is also about Vancouver\u2019s intimate relationship with Bucky and the vision he helped create when he visited the city in 1976.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some great Buckminster Fuller connections to Vancouver,\u201d Green acknowledged, noting that Fuller was a frequent visitor to the city that would eventually lay claim to a geodesic dome of its own \u2013 today\u2019s Telus World of Science (better known as Science World), one of this city\u2019s most enduring symbols.<\/p>\n

The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller<\/em> will be presented by the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival Nov. 12, 8 p.m., at Vogue Theatre. Tickets, $30.50, can be purchased at voguetheatre.com<\/a> or by calling Northern Tickets at 1-855-551-9747.<\/p>\n

Jan Lee<\/strong>\u2019s articles have been published in <\/em>B\u2019nai B\u2019rith Magazine, thedailyrabbi.com<\/a> and Voices of Conservative and Masorti Judaism. She also writes on sustainable business practices for TriplePundit.com<\/a>. Her blog can be found at multiculturaljew.polestarpassages.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buckminster Fuller in front of the Montreal World\u2019s Fair geodesic dome. (photo from Magnum Photos) Most of us know Richard Buckminster Fuller as \u201cthe dome guy\u201d or, more formally, as the 20th-century genius whose life and vision eventually led to the creation of that most unusual architectural form, the geodesic dome. His early architectural designs, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[2340,2342,2341],"class_list":["post-8796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-buckminster-fuller","tag-push-international-performing-arts-festival","tag-sam-green"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}