Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea is a 3D documentary film about the life and work of artist, marine, and acrobat H.C. (Cliff) Westermann. As a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, Westermann’s dramatic personal history can be traced through beguiling, surreal artworks he made to process the horrors he witnessed on the front lines. In so doing, he became an inspiration for many young artists. The film reveals ways in which Westermann protected his empathic spirit – and sanity – by ‘sculpting’ his body, artworks, friendships, his hand-hewn house, and his art-filled letters to his dearest friends and family. Our documentary explores themes of resiliency, hope, and humor with a script culled from over a thousand of Westermann’s letters and one audio-interview – voiced by four-time Academy-Award nominee Ed Harris.

The film was conceived and directed by Leslie Buchbinder, featuring interviews with Ed Ruscha, Frank Gehry, William T. Wiley, Billy Al Bengston, and other artist-pals, along with his beloved sister, Martha Westermann Renner. The film is executive produced by the internationally acclaimed artist, KAWS, along with award-winning documentary producer Caryn Capotosto, whose prior projects include Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Best of Enemies. Westermann features music by legendary artists Laurie Anderson (with the Kronos Quartet) and Terry Allen; Tomeka Reid, MacArthur “Genius Grant” winner, composed the original score.Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea premiered in the fall of 2023 and is now screening nationally and internationally.

About the film

As a veteran of World War II and the Korean War who struggled with the ramifications of modern warfare, Westermann’s dramatic personal history can be traced through his beguiling, surreal artworks. Our documentary explores the themes of Westermann’s life and work, including resiliency, hope, and humor. Westermann used art as a means of processing the trauma of war, and in spite of these horrors, he adopted an empathic and hopeful spirit that courses through his artwork and relationships, becoming an inspiration to many young artists. These themes are woven into a visceral essay-film format (as opposed to a biopic or didactic art history lecture), which invites the audience to interact with Westermann’s story in a visually lush and meditative way. Westermann was enamored of the creative potential of tools, and their ability to transform raw materials into objects of totemic power. For us as filmmakers, the 3-D format is the ideal tool to convey the literal and metaphorical multidimensionality of Westermann’s works, which are imbued with humor, horror, absurdity, and exquisite beauty.

The film follows Cliff Westermann’s compelling journey to process his post-war PTSD through the act of making art. Act 1 immerses the viewer in Westermann’s experiences of sea and ground combat in the Pacific theater of World War II and the Korean War, respectively, and explores how this crucible forged his unlikely commitment to the path of a visual artist. Act 2 probes the struggles of post-traumatic stress and the challenge of extracting meaning from war – while also finding love with fellow artist Joanna Beall. Westermann speaks of morally ambiguous events which led him to a skeptical position that has a strong kinship with the literature of post-WWII veteran authors Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, and Norman Mailer. Act 3 culminates with Westermann, heretofore a patriotic marine, experiencing a surprising anti-war transformation in response to the Vietnam War, describing himself to a fellow marine as having taken “a left wing right-about face”.

Filmed within mirrored settings that create the illusion of infinite space, the film also includes acrobatic-theatrical scenes that further the themes of our film about a man who not only was a professional artist, but an acrobat as well, whose life was a constant balancing act, as he stated in a letter to his sister Martha: “I have been working exceedingly hard over quite an extended period of time now and I’m a little beat…Seems I’m always spending my last nickel on a piece of wood or glue or a tool and I don’t worry. I have a roof over my head and eat… I only owe 10$ altogether + generally I have the time I need which is the most important thing. The responsibility that art requires is unimaginable, even to most artists, oddly enough… I guess I’m relegated to always walking this tightrope, but this is the way it has to be.”

Not unlike our first film Hairy Who & The Chicago Imagists, Westermann: Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea is auspiciously being made at a time of renewed interest in Westermann's oeuvre within the art world, evidenced by a series of recent shows, including a solo retrospective at Venus Over Manhattan in late 2015, followed by a comprehensive survey of Monster Roster artists (with whom he was affiliated) at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. In the fall of 2017, the Fondazione Prada presented a triad of Chicago-centric shows devoted to Westermann, his contemporary Leon Golub, and the Hairy Who and Chicago Imagist artists. In early 2019, the Reina Sofia in Madrid unveiled a major Westermann solo retrospective. As a result of this intensified curiosity around Westermann’s work, we believe that our project will resonate strongly with art institutions, critics, and the art savvy public alike. We also believe that Westermann’s story of trauma and catharsis via art is universal, thereby allowing our film to appeal to a broad audience.

All art, photos and letters by H.C. Westermann are © Dumbarton Arts, LLC/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY