Volume 4, Issue 3
February 7 - February 20, 2002
Leon Vestik
This is not the story of a German scientist who was liberated by the Americans during World War II. This is not the story of the bizarre machine he built, nor is it the story of how that machine was subsequently unearthed in the 1980s. It's not the story of the scientist's descendent laying claim to the machine, and having it smuggled from New Mexico back to Europe by hiring private movers who thought they were transporting an odd piece of art, but who gradually came to realize the truth, or something like it . . .
No, this is the story of how all that could happen twice.
The machine exists, and its name is BubblePuppy. ("Welpe Luft-Blassen" in German. ) Its creator was the Count S. von Teleki, a Nazi scientist conscripted by the American military to work for us in New Mexico. It looks like a bulky metal dorsal fin, and--here's the best part-- nobody knows exactly what it was built to do. The BubblePuppy could be a rocket-propelled vehicle, an amphibious attack craft, a flying machine, a spacecraft cobbled together out of spare parts.... It could be all of the above. Count Teleki was an odd duck, the very model of a modern mad scientist, and he disappeared without a trace or a note explaining the BubblePuppy's purpose here on Earth. It was discovered, in the 1980s, mothballed in an old crate.
The Count's grandson, an eccentric himself, heard about the machine's discovery and claimed it as his rightful property. He orchestrated an elaborate transfer in order to bring the BubblePuppy home safely. His distrust of conventional shipping methods led him to hire a private moving company to get it from New Mexico to California, telling the drivers it was a sculpture. And here is where the story starts over.
Local artist Sean Guerrero heard about the BubblePuppy. A WWII buff who used to live in France--a region at the southern tip of Occupied Gaul--and a full-time sculptor who specializes in gigantic sculptures created out of found metal such as chrome car bumpers, Guerrero visited the people who discovered the machine and was even treated to a glimpse of the blueprints. The level of secrecy was so high (not to mention the level of oddity) that he wasn't allowed to copy the blueprints or see the machine itself. All he got was a glance, and from that he rebuilt the BubblePuppy in his garage.
Not that his garage is a normal one. Guerrero lives in a warehouse in the valley beneath LoDo. Like any artist, his studio is appointed with copious art and plenty of open space. Unlike any artist whose abode I've entered, he's taken the aesthetic of warehouse living and made it swanky. Low colored lights illuminate the joint, which is organized around a raised and canopied seating area. There is a bar. There is an elaborate sound system. If I'm not mistaken, there is an acute lack of television. When I went to his warehouse to meet with the artist and his crew, there was a strong air of bohemia in the place--not just art, but art-plus-work-equals-life, Art and don't you dare forget the capital "A."
But silly me. Here we are, many paragraphs in, and I haven't even told you why the BubblePuppy, why the crew, why this story is happening all over again. Sean Guerrero and his comrades are making a movie, a docudrama about the events of the BubblePuppy's life.
The first half, concerning the machine's creation and discovery, has already been completed with the help of many talented local artists, writers, actors, and bohemians. The second part begins when the whole crew takes the BubblePuppy on the road to recreate its secret voyage. The entire collection will be in character, and the reactions of everyday people to the sight of the BubblePuppy will be filmed for posterity. This is guerrilla filmmaking at its most ambitious: we weren't there to make a documentary of the real thing, so we'll just re-do the real thing and film that.
At this point, it's important to note that the actual machine is lost, and the whereabouts of the Count's grandson are unknown. It's important to note that the first day of the road trip takes place near Roswell, New Mexico. And it's important to remember that this won't be your typical World War II film --the salient details are still classified, the intrigue borders on comical, and the filmmakers are thoroughly enjoying themselves.
This might seem like a lot to swallow, until you see the inside of the BubblePuppy. The narrow cockpit has been recreated in high-50s sci-fi style: aluminum foil wallpaper, random dials and buttons, large gear levers, two chairs (presumably for a pilot and navigator), and a myriad of signs and warning labels. The interior, Guerrero stressed, is pure fantasy. Nothing in the blueprints indicated what the BubblePuppy looked like inside, so his sculpture represents an educated guess at best. Still, the atmosphere is so familiar that it helps the whole project come together.
The exterior walls have been artificially aged, to remain true to the BubblePuppy's condition after sitting in storage for 50 years. A few details are off--the "bubbles" from which the vehicle gets its name are made of colored plastic of the kind found in indoor Chuck-E-Cheese playgrounds, but it wasn't clear from the drawings what material made the Puppy's so-called eyes. Improvisation was a given, since so little information is around for the filmmakers to use.
Speaking of the filmmakers, Guerrero has assembled something of a Super Team to create this historic story properly.
Dave Flomberg is in charge of script and text control, as well as the bulk of the research necessary to such a cloak-and-dagger story. He's most well-known for his journalism work in such publications as the Boulder Weekly , Citysearch.com, and Westword.
Philip Lucero is a highly regarded artist around town, and will be taking care of the filming as Director of Photography. He's got quite a lot to juggle. The film is being shot on multiple formats: Beta SP, Mini DV, Super 8, and some 16mm. He's taking care of the editing with his own equipment on FinalCut Pro, mastering the nearly one-hour film digitally and printing it on either 16mm or Super 16 (depending on how much budget is left).
Kyle Loving is one of the actors and co-writers of the script. He also has experience as a scenic artist with such outfits as LSI, as well as being a musician and artist on the side. He'll be playing, along with Guerrero, one of the private movers contracted to drive the BubblePuppy out to California.
Thomas Ackermann is a local photographer filling in as jack-of-all-trades: writer/ assistant director/editor/lighting/still photography. He's using this experience to learn more about FinalCut Pro on Phil's setup.
Holding it all together is Dawn Addington, the stage and script director, who is, in her own words, "here to take all these wonderful ideas and tie them together."
This organization will come in handy on February 11, when the whole team embarks on the BubblePuppy replica's maiden voyage. From Alamogordo, New Mexico--where the original crate was discovered on an abandoned farm, to Long Beach, California, where the first BubblePuppy boarded a boat and disappeared --Guerrero and company will be filming the reactions of everyone who encounters the beast, even engaging in some role playing to bring out Americans' true feelings upon seeing a strange craft emblazoned with the German Iron Cross.
"We're bringing a CB unit with us to pick up the conversations of truckers," Flomberg said. "Yeah, I'm going to get them to talk,"
Loving added, going into his trucker impersonation: "Yep, you fellows see that thing? What's it doing on that flatbed?"
The duties of filmmaking aren't all they have planned for BubblePuppy Jr. The return trip, which won't be part of the movie, takes them through Las Vegas, where, Guerrero said, "We just can't pass up the opportunity to do some mischief." The crew plans on getting at least two tickets on this trip for operating an unlicensed vehicle. It will be worth it, though: planned outtakes will include driving the BubblePuppy down the famous Las Vegas Strip and pulling up the valet drive of a fancy hotel. In costume. When you've got a genuine Welpe Luft-Blassen at your disposal, you might as well make the most of it.
The Vegas sidetrack is a dry run, too. Guerrero plans on making the entire enterprise a traveling art installation. The prop, the movie, various stills from production, and all the evidence gathered so far will combine to make an intriguing and educational look at World War II science.
"People are just now becoming aware of the stateside history," Flomberg said. "All these documents are just now having their classification expire. For instance, did you know there were several POW camps right here in Colorado? They had Italians interred all over the country, but, since Italy gave up earlier on than Germany or Japan, the POWs were treated more like merchant marines, allowed to go out on the town and see a movie, have dinner."
"There's a lighter side to World War II," Guerrero added. "It's not as real for us as it is for residents of Occupied France. They're the ones who lived through the destruction, and still live on the site of so much horror. By contrast, our experiences here in America are almost comical, and that's the tone we want our film to have. It's a bit silly, after all, but there's the seriousness of the war underlying it all."
Just as the art installation will serve as an eye-opener, the website-- www.projectbubblepuppy.com--is slowly getting in gear to give more information to the public. As of press time, the only information uploaded is the original newspaper article from Alamogordo describing the details of the BubblePuppy's discovery. Eventually, the site will be updated to include more information about the BubblePuppy, its creator Count S. von Teleki, and upcoming events surrounding the project. There are even areas planned that will allow someone to follow the BubblePuppy's route, or meet the infamous BubbleGirls.
Oh yes, the BubbleGirls. These are the BubblePuppy's groupies--for lack of a better term--and you can meet them, along with the infamous replica, at Denver's second annual Mardi Gras parade on February 9. The whole crew will be participating in the parade, in costume, with the BubbleGirls forming a lovely entourage. This will be, in fact, Denver's only chance to see the BubblePuppy in person before it launches south to New Mexico.
This is an opportunity not to be missed. Not only is the parade one of the more Fun (yes, capital F) times to be had in our city, but the BubblePuppy is a sight to behold. Sean Guerrero, after all, is a talented artist. His works are regularly used in Hollywood, and they are duly impressive. A few of his smaller pieces serve as ornaments in his warehouse--by smaller, of course, I mean twice human size. One gigantic chrome Roman centurion holds sway over a back corner, while another sharp- feathered metal eagle swoops through the garage. Sure, this labor of love might be bizarre, but its sincere attempt to blend history and aesthetics is nothing less than breathtaking.
The film is slated for completion in April, after which it will make the festival circuit. Several big name festivals have already expressed interest--Sundance, Telluride, Denver, Crested Butte, just to name a few. The crew promised the premiere would happen here in Denver. However, and they are currently seeking a venue in which to unleash Project BubblePuppy.
And there you have it. A tale fit for Ripley's Believe It Or Not . Still, the truth is out there, as they say, and the Teleki family is somewhere out there as well, oiling up the real BubblePuppy, plotting, planning, waiting....
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