Pwt 11 2016 WARSAW, 1931 : THE MAKING-OF CREOSOTE, JORIS IVENS’ DOCUMENTARY MOVIE

PWT-11 2016 CONTENTS :

Joris Ivens, Germaine Krull, Eli Lotar and Jean Dréville IIICreosote and Meat Smoking VJean Dréville documenting Joris Ivens’ documentary, 24 prints 1-24

WEEKLY TRANSMISSION N°11 THURSDAY 17 MARCH 2016

WARSAW, 1931 : THE MAKING-OF CREOSOTE, JORIS IVENS’ DOCUMENTARY MOVIE

Lots n°3 + n°4

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N°11 : The Making-of Creosote

n°5, detail

Weekly Transmission 11 III 17 March 2016 .

Joris Ivens, Germaine Krull, Eli Lotar and Jean Dréville

During the Thomas Walther Object — Photo exhibition at MOMA, the projection ofJoris Ivens’ 15 minutes documentary Regen (Rain), 1929, made still a sensation.

Germany, 1920’s : young Dutch Joris Ivens had been sent by his family to Berlin tostudy the very new cinematographic techniques and technologies. He meet youngphotographer Germain Krull during an artist party organised by Arthur Lehning and AnnieGrimmer in a Spring evening of 1923. They will share professional, intimate or legal lives fortwenty years, but not political ideas: as biographer Hans Schoots notes, «whereas Ivens stillhad to move toward Communism, Krull had already become a dissident».

Germaine followed her Dutch lover to Amsterdam but was not welcomed by thefamily, they stayed together with frequent separations until Germaine had an affair with awoman in 1926. And when Joris and Germaine got married in Paris XVIII, on April 2nd 1927,it was all by «convenience» to help her get a passport. She was becoming famous amongartists and had chosen one of her assistants as lover, Eli Lotar, a young man with such a perfectprofil that «it almost hurt to look at him» (Hans Schoots, Living Dangerously: A Biography ofJoris Ivens, partly online).

Germaine Krull and Eli Lotar working together... on a movie, Paris, c. 1930(from an unpublished negative)

Weekly Transmission 11 IV 17 March 2016 .

Joris Ivens brought general attention of the avant-garde with two documentaries: DeBrug (The Bridge) (1928) and Regen (Rain) (1929), those ones which went on view duringMOMA exhibition Object — Photo last year.

«A search for a visual language, The Bridge is based on a systematic analysis of themovements of a railway bridge in Rotterdam that can be raised and lowered to let a boat passunderneath. He chose this subject because it repeated the same action over and over, andwould be the same every time he could snatch an hour from work (and a few metres of film)to go and shoot it. The film announces its agenda from the very start, with a presentation ofthree different views of the camera itself, as if in a technical drawing. The result of the filmclub experience was that young filmmakers saw the great possibilities that the cinema had tooffer, without being encumbered by conventions or genres. They had strong feelings aboutwhat was and was not good filmmaking, but almost no sense of anything being out of bounds.In a world where newsreels were made by cameramen standing a respectful distance fromthe event in question, it was obvious that a better film could be made by using close-ups, bymoving along with the action, as in fiction films or in the purely abstract...

The most celebrated of the commissioned films from this period is Philips Radio (1931),a portrait of work in the Philips factory, from the blowing of glass for valves and assembly ofcomplete radios, to the research laboratories and the typing pool. Its French title, Symphonieindustrielle, is more apt. Not only does it recall the “city symphony” films of directors such asWalter Ruttman, but it also captures the extraordinary soundtrack that was constructed forthe film, combining noises of work, music, radio broadcasts and pure abstraction.The mostcelebrated of the commissioned films from this period is Philips Radio (1931), a portrait ofwork in the Philips factory, from the blowing of glass for valves and assembly of completeradios, to the research laboratories and the typing pool. Its French title, Symphonie industrielle,is more apt. Not only does it recall the “city symphony” films of directors such as WalterRuttman, but it also captures the extraordinary soundtrack that was constructed for the film,combining noises of work, music, radio broadcasts and pure abstraction» (sensesofcinema).

In 1929, Ivens was invited in the Soviet Union and started to travel there in 1930 andto work with Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, and Dziga Vertov who became his friends.

He could not be present full time for the less known commissioned film Creosote, andask young jounalist Jean Dréville to assist him in Polish Silesia and Warsaw, and Krull andLotar to help in Paris. We present here twenty-four set photographs by Jean Drévilledocumenting the Making of Creosote. They are all unique vintage prints.

Weekly Transmission 11 V 17 March 2016 .

... «Creosote was first discovered in its wood-tar form in 1832 by Carl Reichenbach, whenhe found it both in the tar and in pyroligneous acids obtained by a dry distillation ofbeechwood. Because pyroligneous acid was known as an antiseptic and meat preservative,Reichenbach did experiments with dipping meat in a dilute solution of distilled creosote.

He found that the meat was dried without undergoing putrefaction and had attaineda smoky flavor. This led him to reason that creosote was the antiseptic component containedin smoke, and he further argued that the creosote he had found in wood tar was also in coaltar, animal tar, and amber tar in the same abundance as in wood tar...

Soon after it was discovered and recognized as the principle of meat smoking, wood-tar creosote became used... Even before creosote as a chemical compound was discovered,it was the chief active component of medicinal remedies in different cultures around the world.

Historically, coal-tar creosote has been distinguished from what was thought of ascreosote proper—the original substance of Reichenbach's discovery—and referred tospecifically as "creosote oil". But because creosote from coal-tar and wood-tar are obtainedfrom a similar process and have some common uses, they have also been placed in the sameclass of substances, with the terms "creosote" or "creosote oil" referring to either product.

Wood-tar creosote is a colourless to yellowish greasy liquid with a smoky odor,produces a sooty flame when burned, and has a burned taste. It is non-buoyant in water, witha specific gravity of 1.037 to 1.087, retains fluidity at a very low temperature, and boils at205-225 °C. When transparent, it is in its purest form. Dissolution in water requires up to 200times the amount of water as the base creosote...

Wood-tar creosote is to some extent used for wood preservation, but it is generallymixed with coal-tar creosote, since the former is not as effective. Commercially availablepreparations of "liquid smoke", marketed to add a smoked flavor to meat and aid as apreservative, consist primarily of creosote and other constituents of smoke.[46] Creosote isthe ingredient that gives liquid smoke its function; guaicol lends to the taste and the creosoteoils help act as the preservative...» (English Wikipedia, online)

Creosote and meat smoking

Weekly Transmission 11 1 17 March 2016 .

Circle of JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). «Diener commande, Dréville obéit, Joris regarde»,The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931.

Vintage silver print, 125x180 mm, annotated in pencil by Dréville «Diener commande,Dréville obéit, Joris regarde», verso. 200 euros

Verso of n° 1


Circle of JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). «Dréville, Ivens and a Diplomate», Warsaw, 1931.Vintage silver print, 125x180 mm, annotated in pencil by Dréville, verso. 400 euros


Circle of JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). The Making-of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 125x180 mm, annotated in pencil, verso : «saisi au vol !». 600 euros


Circle of JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). «Camera Cinex modifiée», Poland, 1931. Vintagesilver print, 100x70 mm, annotated later by the photographer in ink, verso. 200 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Camera Cinex, Making-of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintagesilver print, 123x170 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 300 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). The Making of Creosote, Silesian forest, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 80x110 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Forest, Silesia, 1931. Vintage silver print, 80x110 mm,numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Men and Horses, The Making of Creosote, Silesia, 1931.Vintage silver print, 120x173 mm, numbered in pencil, verso, crease. 100 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Transportation, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintagesilver print, 80x110 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 500 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). On the River, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintagesilver print, 80x110 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 500 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Toes, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 120x170 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Assembling, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintagesilver print, 80x110 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Crane, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 80x110 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 400 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Heavy, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 125x175 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Preparing the fire, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931.Vintage silver print, 120x175 mm, numbered in pencil, verso. 400 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Heavy Metal, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintagesilver print, 125x175 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Metal, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 130x180 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Man at Work, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintagesilver print, 125x175 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Fire, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 80x110 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 400 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Hot Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silver print, 80x110 mm,numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 500 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Smoke, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 120x172 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 400 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Cold Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silver print, 130x175mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 400 euros


JEAN DRÉVILLE (1906-1997). Rail, The Making of Creosote, Poland, 1931. Vintage silverprint, 80x110 mm, numbered by the photographer in pencil, verso. 600 euros

Number Eleven, Second Season, of the Weekly Transmission has been uploaded on Thursday, 17th March 2016 at 18:15 (Paris time).

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Pwt 11 2016 WARSAW, 1931 : THE MAKING-OF CREOSOTE, JORIS IVENS’ DOCUMENTARY MOVIE