SYNOPSIS:
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The Boneman is a feature-length documentary
about the life and work of Gendron Jensen, a man who has
passionately devoted his existence to an artistic calling from within.
His medium is simple-- graphite on paper. He draws detailed, precise, and
wondrous images of bones. Sometimes they are solitary bones and at other
times they are juxtaposed with other species. They are always executed
in a way that leaves the viewer with a newfound respect for the wonders
of our natural world. |
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For over three decades, Gendron has been ingraining his artwork
with an almost palpable vibrancy. His juxtaposition of predator and prey
is one arrangement that hints at something deeper and cabalistic-- perhaps
an echo of the dance that these two species are engaged in through eternity.
Gendron Jensen's artwork has been exhibited in many museums and galleries
worldwide. His work and career have also been featured in magazines, including
Smithsonian and Art in America. In addition, Gendron is an accomplished
sculptor and a prolific writer. The latter makes his thought processes
readily accessible from journals and letters to which he has granted us
access. Gendron has also informed friends and family members that it is
his wish that they be frank with us. This is a rare opportunity, and we
plan on making a film that will be educational, inspirational and will
endure for many years to come as a document and testament about a man that
was true to himself and his surroundings. |
OBJECTIVES
AND AIMS
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Our aim is to present the life of Gendron Jensen and to follow the
course of his artistic path. THE BONEMAN is a film that will follow
a unique American artist whose art has always come from within with a power
that reveals a spiritual force.
As a means to visualize this force, we aim to get on film sites which
are embedded into Gendron's psyche; the woodlands of Minnesota, the monastery
where he worked and lived, Moose Lake State Hospital where he was institutionalized,
the abandoned mink farm where he lived as a semi recluse, the Smithsonian
Institute which inspired him so much and New Mexico which presented love
and stability into his life. |
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The film
also captures rooms filled with collections of bones and
the ghosts of spirits past offering insight into Gendron's anima. Then,
there's the artwork itself which in part will be filmed on location to
enable us to show its scope and size in relation to its environment.
Interviews create the sinew which will thread together the above
stated visual skeleton. Gendron himself, best conveys the thought process
along with the spiritual and artistic evolution we intend to portray. In
addition to interviews with him, we aim to orate his diary entries, writings
and letters with the use of a narrator. |
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To flesh out the
documentary, other interviews have and will be filmed with
family members, friends, associates, art critics, curators &
collectors.
Thematically, we are concerned about a man who followed his own path.
His motivations are not wealth or fame. His struggle is a labor of love.
He follows the path, aptly named by Joseph Campbell, as 'the hero's journey'.
Gendron Jensen's calling was so loud and clear that it could not be ignored.
That he has persevered through all the hardships and trials it steeped
upon him is what makes him heroic. |
Poet Laureate Robert Bly recalls
his collaboration with Jensen |
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"The balance of intuitive creativity and
reasoned science is
direly needful in awakening humanity...
Images have power beyond words, to evoke
passion,
understanding, and action.
The ignorance of our species blisslessly
threatens life on earth."
Gendron Jensen 2/98
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There is always a balance between opposing forces; the yin and the yang,
night and day, male and female. As it is with the world, so it will be
with this film. There is the within and the without.
The external story that competes with the internal tale is the message
which Gendron has been telling for thirty years. It is a symbolic message,
apparent through his art. It is the story of life and death struggles,
the cruelty and the beauty of the natural world, of the evanescent nature
of life, of the eternal nature of time. It is a story that modern man,
with all of his technology, seems to have forgotten.
This film will make us remember the forgotten message within. Gaze out
at the Grand Canyon and you will understand. Stand in front of Gendron's
artwork and you will understand. Our focus on Gendron's work will make
people aware of the sacred nature of this world which we share with other
species. Like Gendron's world, it is genuine, spiritual and exemplary.
DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING |
| Once completed, the documentary will reach a vast audience through the
film and video festival circuit, cable or public television and educational
distribution. Our target population does not only include students and
lovers of the arts. We aim to reach out to a general audience in order
to make people aware of the sacred nature of this world and the sacred
nature of art in itself as a spiritual and healing force.
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Synopsis - Objectives & Aims -
Distribution & Marketing
- Biography
- Filmmakers -
Farmhouse Films
For information
about making a tax-deductible contribution towards the
documentary production of
The Boneman,
please contact
Farmhouse Films
If you are interested in purchasing
artwork by the artist, visit
Gendron Jensen
To read more about Gendron in Smithsonian Magazine,
visit
The Beauty of Bare Bones
Copyright 2001-20024 - Farmhouse
Films |
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