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In the documentary film Art House,
photographer and filmmaker Don Freeman explores the
handmade homes created and lived in by eleven distinguished
American artists, shedding light on a unique architectural typology
characterized by a D.I.Y. aesthetic, the appropriation of building
techniques from art practice, and a fierce spirit of individual
expression that deserves deeper examination in this age of
architectural standardization.
The film reveals the inventiveness derived from the dialogue
between each artist's practice and the construction
of their handmade homes. The results range from the romantic
(Hudson River School painter Frederic Church's Olana, framing
views of the Catskills to echo his paintings), to the futuristic
(Urbanist Paolo Soleri's silt-casted structure Cosanti growing out
of experiments in bell making in the Arizona desert). Commentary
from cultural critic Alastair Gordon and an original score by Jamie
Rudolph help to evoke the spiritual dimension of the locations
and argue the case that the intuitive vision of artists can create
great architecture.
Featuring the hand-built homes of George Nakashima,
Henry Chapman Mercer, Wharton Esherick, Paolo Soleri,
Byrdclife Arts Colony, Frederic Church, Henry Varnum Poor,
Russel Wright, Raoul Hague and Eliphante.
