The first ever documentary on the life and work of Gustav Metzger, founder of Auto Destructive Art one of the most pivotal cultural figures of the past forty years. The Scale of Gustav Metzger’s achievements and his contribution to contemporary culture are clearly demonstrated in Ken McMullen’s extraordinary and comprehensive film. From Freud to Vermeer, from Nazi design to the importance of drawing and the films of Leni Riefenstahl, Gustav Metzger speaks candidly and brilliantly of the influences which have shaped both his own work and the culture of our time. Gustav Metzger witnessed the rise of Nazism as a small child in Nurnberg in the early 1930s. He escaped to Great Britain in 1939 and trained as an artist before founding the auto-destructive art movement in 1959 which has influenced a generation of younger artists including The Who’s Pete Townshend. Metzger pioneered the use of computers in art and with his ‘Liquid Crystal Light Projections’ which were incorporated into the stage shows of Cream and The Who at London’s Roundhouse, he defined the visual culture of the psychedelic era.
Contributed by
Juan Pablo Macías