©3B-Produktion GmbH
Documentary | 2021 | arte, ZDF [de] | Germany
Main data
| Director | Carl von Karstedt |
|---|---|
| Written by | Carl von Karstedt |
| Production | 3B-Produktion |
Brief synopsis
With: Marina Abramovic, Willem Dafoe, Tom Waits, Philipp Glass, Christian Friedel, Christopher Nell, Ann-Christin Rommen, Stefan Kurt, Sabin Tambrea and Traute Hoess.
"The most beautiful and profound thing that man can experience is the feeling of mystery." said Albert Einstein. Hardly any sentence could sum up the work of theatre artist Robert "Bob" Wilson better.
Ever since he fell under the spell of Bob's art as a child, Carl von Karstedt has tried to get to the bottom of this mystery. What constitutes this depth? Does it even exist? How does this art come into being? How does it work? Who is Bob and what drives him? And what can we deduce from this for art in general?
For over a year he accompanied Bob - at rehearsals, at lunch with old acquaintances - to find out whether the secret can be revealed and what beauty and depth are actually about. In the process, we look back on more than half a century of mysterious artistic creation and try to crack a unique artistic code. Why are people moved to tears when Robert "Bob" Wilson incorporates minimalist gasoline pumps into a production of Shakespeare's sonnets? Why does relentless repetition change our understanding of anything? Is it true what Philipp Glass proclaims about the collaborative work "Einstein on the Beach" with obvious delight: "What does it mean? It doesn't mean anything!"?
"The most beautiful and profound thing that man can experience is the feeling of mystery." said Albert Einstein. Hardly any sentence could sum up the work of theatre artist Robert "Bob" Wilson better.
Ever since he fell under the spell of Bob's art as a child, Carl von Karstedt has tried to get to the bottom of this mystery. What constitutes this depth? Does it even exist? How does this art come into being? How does it work? Who is Bob and what drives him? And what can we deduce from this for art in general?
For over a year he accompanied Bob - at rehearsals, at lunch with old acquaintances - to find out whether the secret can be revealed and what beauty and depth are actually about. In the process, we look back on more than half a century of mysterious artistic creation and try to crack a unique artistic code. Why are people moved to tears when Robert "Bob" Wilson incorporates minimalist gasoline pumps into a production of Shakespeare's sonnets? Why does relentless repetition change our understanding of anything? Is it true what Philipp Glass proclaims about the collaborative work "Einstein on the Beach" with obvious delight: "What does it mean? It doesn't mean anything!"?