Volume 2 of the Eames Films contains three films that are absolutely crucial to any meaningful understanding of the Eames work: Toccata for Toy Trains, Blacktop, and House: after 5 years of living.
These three film essays touch on critical issues in Charles and Ray’s work: the honest use of materials, the uncommon beauty of common things, and the qualities of the landmark Eames House itself. Other films on this volume: Lucia Chase Vignette, Kaleidoscope Jazz Chairs, The Black Ships, Blacktop and Atlas. The seven films on this tape were selected to allow the viewer to sample a wide range of work.
We selected this Volume in particular because it allows you to see the Eames House through Charles and Ray’s eyes:
- House: after 5 years of living shows through a series of images how the pair explored and saw their home… what they found to be beautiful, inspiring, and worth communicating. Their photographs provide a wealth of information, helping viewers to understand the Eameses’ intent, where rigor is carried through to the smallest of details, essential to joy on the largest of scales. As Charles said: “The details are not the details; they make the product.”
- Lucia Chase Vignette was one in a series of shorts made to show how a new Polavision movie system could be used… at a time when home movie cameras were NOT ubiquitous. It shows a chase across the meadow and through the house — tromping up the stairs and out a back window. Above all, the film underscores that while today the Eames House is a National Historic Landmark, to the Eameses, it was a home built for robust living and working.
