Overview

In the run-up to its 50th anniversary in 2024, Dia Art Foundation engaged us to create a series of art-historical films about some of the most important artists in its collection. These short documentaries delve into each artist's singular Dia project and illuminates both the artist's practice and Dia's role in supporting them during their career and/or in becoming stewards of their work in perpetuity. In addition to the in-depth interviews we conducted and scripting/storyboarding work, we developed specific strategies for capturing each work, adhering rigorously to the artist’s intent. The resulting films are informative primers on the artist and their significance, as well as thoughtful mediations on some of the most important works in 20th century art.

Selected Films

Robert Smithson at Dia: Spiral Jetty

Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty is one of the most iconic works of land art ever produced. This film takes viewers inside the creation of the work, the experience of visiting it in a remote corner of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and explores its meaning as marker of climate change and a way to contemplate the passing of time on a geologic scale.

  • Interviewer/Story Editor/Producer: Rachel Wolff
    Cinematographers: Jonathan Sanden, Noah Therrien
    Editors: Stephen Parnigoni, Jonathan Sanden
    Assistant Editor: Hannah Kaylor
    Music: Noah Therrien and others

Nancy Holt at Dia: Sun Tunnels

We ventured deep into the desert of western Utah to capture the experience of Nancy Holt's powerful, permanent, site-specific artwork Sun Tunnels. We interviewed Holt/Smithson Foundation director Lisa Le Feuvre, UMFA director Gretchen Dietrich, Dia Director Jessica Morgan and curator Jordan Carter for their perspectives on the artist's importance and ethereal and sensitive qualities of Holt's most important artwork.

  • Interviewer/Story Editor/Producer: Rachel Wolff
    Cinematographers: Jonathan Sanden, Noah Therrien
    Editors: Stephen Parnigoni, Jonathan Sanden
    Assistant Editor: Hannah Kaylor
    Music: Noah Therrien and others

Dan Flavin at Dia Bridgehampton

Dan Flavin's fluorescent sculptures are among the most immediately recognizable works of the 20th century. This film explores the artist's history and process alongside his life-long relationship with Dia Art Foundation, which maintains a permanent, purpose-made museum of his work in Bridgehampton, NY.

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Robert Irwin at Dia Beacon

Dia engaged the conceptual artist Robert Irwin to help design its museum, Dia Beacon, which he approached as a work of art in and of itself. Irwin made subtle interventions into the building’s lighting and developed a symmetrical floorplan to ensure that all galleries are given equal importance and presented without a single overarching historical or chronological narrative. This film takes you through the history of the museum itself and how Irwin facilitated the museum’s unique experience.

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