Commissioned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for its Art and Technology program, Three Landscapes (1970–71) is Lichtenstein’s only film. The program paired artists with technology companies in Southern California, and Lichtenstein spent two weeks in residence at Universal Film Studios. After touring the studio’s film laboratories and special effects facilities, he began developing film loops of sky and water separated by a heavy black horizon line. The work is both technically ambitious and characteristically deadpan. Lichtenstein filmed fish in an aquarium to suggest the ocean for one loop and used his Benday-style dots as the “sky” for another, creating filmic seascapes that appear like “moving pictures.” Rear projection conceals the mechanics of display, achieving the artist’s desired effect of the screens appearing autonomous, like paintings.
.jpg)