Expanded Cinema II: The Ultimate Painting

Richard Kallweit
The Ultimate Painting, 1966.
Photographic documentation of a collaborative work between Clark Richert, Richard Kallweit, JoAnn Bernofsky, Gene Bernofsky and Charles DiJulio.
Courtesy the artist.

The original members of the Drop City commune established near Trinidad, Colorado, collaboratively produced The Ultimate Painting in an improvisational manner. Conceived in 1966, just as light shows were emerging as a popular art form, The Ultimate Painting was made to spin during multi-media shows in Drop City’s Theater Dome.

Dome Architecture: Drop City and Beyond

Clark Richert Drop City Panorama, 1968
Archival digital print, 72 x 28 1/2 in
Courtesy the artist

Geodesic-based dome architecture was a persistent element of the counterculture landscape in the West. Over 2,000 rural communes were formed in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and the iconic Drop City, near Trinidad, Colorado, was the first of them to use domes.