The Archival Impermanence Project

How do classic films remain alive and authentic amidst the shifting sands of time, societal upheaval, and technological advance?

The Archival Impermanence Project is a unique work integrating detailed film restoration case studies from the dawn of cinema to present day, in the framework of an organic theory of practice. Growing from the multi-decade career of award-winning restorationist / filmmaker Ross Lipman, it compiles a diverse assembly of essays, lectures, and rare archival documents. Accompanied by copious illustrations and in-depth appendices, it is destined to be an invaluable resource to a wide range of scholars and archivists. An additional section of historical essays on classic films restored by the author illuminates the ways in which archival work enables new understandings of canonical titles, inviting a wide range of cinephiles and movie lovers to the fruits of this specialized field. Together, the book's diverse components propose a new way of looking at the act of film restoration within a context of the only known condition of life: impermanence itself.

Acclaimed film restorationist and independent filmmaker Ross Lipman has spent decades thinking about film as both a material artifact and an artistic medium. In these nimble, intellectually daring essays, he takes us on a journey through that lifetime of experience, stopping along the way to consider everything from the proto-cinematic photography of Eadweard Muybridge to the myriad distractions of 21st-century home viewing. In its own unassuming, at times playful way, The Archival Impermanence Project sets out to propose nothing less than a new philosophy of the archive for the post-digital era. - Dana Stevens

A truly bountiful treasure chest bringing together Ross Lipman's restoration writings, research, analysis, imagination, and enjoyment; all of them slyly educating one another, spurred by an indefatigable curiosity. His remarkable essay on Cassavetes and Mingus is the best and most useful thing I've ever read about either artist. I can't really praise it too highly. - Jonathan Rosenbaum