I Went to a Museum with Crispin Glover
Crispin Glover. Photo by: David Williams

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Travel

I Went to a Museum with Crispin Glover

Taking in some fine art with the legendary actor and outsider artist.

For the last 20 years, Crispin Glover has dedicated the majority of his time and money toward producing and directing a series of films referred to as the It trilogy. The first to see release, 2005's What Is It? is a beautifully disturbing film mostly featuring actors with Down Syndrome, ruminating on Glover's psychological reaction to the corporate restraints on filmmaking. The trilogy's second installment, It is Fine! Everything Is Fine from 2007, was funded and co-directed by Glover. The beautiful, semi-autobiographical and psychosexual fantasy was written by and stars Stephen C. Stewart, whose severe cerebral palsy was a major influence on the script. After Stewart's mother died, he was forced to live in an assisted living home for ten years; when he was finally able to leave, he wrote the screenplay.

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The third and final installment of the trilogy, It Is Mine, is on hold for the time being, but Glover's kept busy in the meantime. In between acting and building sets for future films at his Czech chateau, he tours the two films (attending a screening is currently the only way to see them). Before each film, Glover performs an hour-long dramatic reading of one of of his eight self-published books; after each film, he conducts a lengthy and informative Q&A session about the movie, with a book signing to cap off the evening. Two installments of the series are happening this week at IFC in New York, with a screening of It is Fine! Everything Is Fine on June 20th and What Is It? on the 21st. (Visit Glover's website to find out about future events in other cities.)

As a photographer, the films that Glover has acted in and directed have influenced and inspired me more than many of the photographers I studied in school. So, ahead of this week's screenings, I emailed him and asked if we could shoot some portraits. He suggested we meet up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he energetically led me around as I snapped photos of him.

Photo by David Williams

Photo by David Williams

Photo by David Williams

Photo by David Williams

Photo by David Williams

Photo by David Williams

Photo by David Williams

All photos by David Williams.