Path of Cessation (1975)
55 Minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
55 Minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
"We are not tricked into the belief that we've visited Tibet by proxy. Here is the wonder of your works, Bob: that you know, always, whatever part of the World you bounce light off, you are in yr. own backyard ... albeit all these strange (and familiar) creatures move thru that infinite 'yard' of yr. mind. How simply wonderful .... Each film a growth: all of the same spirit. What more can I say but ... Thanks!" - Stan Brakhage
On its surface, PATH OF CESSATION is an experimental documentary on Tibetan culture. The image that is communicated to us by Fulton is a highly mystifying one. Rather than analyze, or enter into a dialogue with the Tibetan culture that he photographs, Fulton has succumbed to it, and through the process has presented us a work of great surface, as well as formal, beauty.
Eastern Airlines: Mer Des Antilles (1973)
12 minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
12 minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
While Fulton was on assignment to shoot a commercial for Eastern Airlines, THE WINGS OF MAN, they also produced a longer film reminiscent of Fulton's other ethnographic work. MER DE ANTILLES allows viewers to experience that same culture on the ground level.
Inca Light (1972)
17 minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
17 minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
INCA LIGHT, an impressionistic film shot in Cuzco, Machu Picchu, and outlying villages of the Andean center of Peru’s Inca Empire. Inca Light captures in a fast fluid motion impressions of life today that refer us to the past society that has also dwelled here.
Earth and Fire: Soldner Ceramic (1969)
25 minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
25 minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
An exploration into the work of master ceramicist Paul Soldner, at his studio in Aspen, CO. Images of his practice paired with philosophical musings at the intersection of art and nature. Soldner was known for popularizing an American style of Japanese Raku firing, as well as a founder of the Andersen Ranch Arts Center.
Reality’s Invisible (1971)
50 Minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
50 Minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
Reality’s Invisible could be described as a portrait of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, yet it is a portrait of an extremely idiosyncratic and distinctive sort. Fulton made the film during his brief time at Harvard, where he had been invited to teach by Robert Gardner, his friend and collaborator. Fulton moves us through the concrete space of the Center’s Le Corbusier-designed building—the only structure by the architect in North America—but, more centrally, presents us footage of students making and discussing their work alongside figures like Gardner, theorist Rudolf Arnheim, artist Stan Vanderbeek, filmmaker Stan Brakhage, and graphic designer Toshi Katayama.
In his own words, Fulton describes this film as “Extensive experimentation with optical printing montage in a documentary on Visual Studies.”
In the Screening Room episode which featured Fulton as guest filmmaker, he elaborated on the film saying, “Normally we think of an image as an information-conveying unit,” he explained. “Well, more than that, it does have kinesthetic properties, in that it generates a certain energy, a certain ‘tone’ if you like.”
Portait de Fulton (1980)
27 Minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
27 Minutes, 16mm, Color, Sound
A self-portrait commissioned by French Television, Antenne 2, Paris. Featuring interviews with Fulton and showcasing his filmmaking. Directed by Fabienne Strouve.