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A Soul Mate On The Wall

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Two friends, a film and fragile bits of time.

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o an unsuspecting observ-
er, it would appear as
though sculptor Arthur
Schneider spends his days
in a solitary and calm world. But
then, that would be only to ob-
serve the obvious.
Mr. Schneider's sculptures
are distinguished by open, joy-
ous gestures of sometimes
anonymous figures. His work is
hardly concerned with the lit-
eral — or the mundane. He con-
verses on a turbulent,
metaphysical plane, a place
where he says he can "shake
hands with angels."
It's the type of grand, mythic
drama of an artist that trans-
forms the commonplace of each
day into an odyssey. Capturing
the drama of Mr. Schneider cre-

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"I'm the frame and Arthur's
the picture," Mr. Ovshinsky said.
Within 18 months, The Wall
could be completed, and shortly
thereafter air on PBS, the Dis-
covery Channel, A&E or even a
local network affiliate.
In the meantime, the filming
continues. Mr. Ovshinsky and
crew observe Mr. Schneider, 67,
as he sculpts, gets treatment for
his terminal illness, and talks
about his interpretation of The
Wall, which he is in the process
of illustrating.
Throughout filming, which is
nearly completed, Mr. Schneider
appears as the type of man whom
Thoreau characterized as "living
a life of quiet desperation." He in-
variably stops to ponder the ap-
pearance of his sculpture — and

step out in front of the camera,
where he is filmed engaging Mr.
Schneider in conversations about
a range of topics — from the na-
ture of the cosmos to the mean-
ing of art, love and life.
"Arthur's attitude toward life
is to be unconditionally in awe,"
Mr. Ovshinsky said. "That's
something that I not only admire,
but I wish would rub off on me."
Although Mr. Ovshinsky and
Mr. Schneider share a deep af-
fection for each other, their dis-
tinct approach to their respective
work has led to a rather uneasy
collaboration. At one point, Mr.
Schneider grew irritated with Mr.
Ovshinsky and demanded: "Why
do you get to ask the questions?"
In typical Ovshinsky fashion,
the moment revealed the soul of

the nature of his collaboration
with Mr. Ovshinsky, with whom
he spends each Rosh Hashanah
and Passover.
They've found their "common
ground" interpreting the theme
of The Wall, which Mr. Ovshin-
sky described as a "book of ques-
tions" about a child who finds
himself atop a wall. Through a
series of questions posed by Mr.
Ovshinsky, the reader must fig-
ure out how and whether the
child comes down from the wall.
Shortly after Mr. Ovshinsky
approached Mr. Schneider about
illustrating the narrative, Mr.
Schneider was diagnosed with
a rare form of lung cancer caused
by his years of exposure to as-
bestos. Ironically, the "wall" has
become a metaphor for mortali-
ty. It also has presented an op-
portunity for Mr. Ovshinsky to

Mr. Schneider, the artist.
Mr. Schneider responded:
"Questions are what I live for,"
Mr. Ovshinsky said.
Mr. Ovshinsky followed: "But
what will you do when you can't
ask anymore questions?"
The exchange left Mr. Schnei-
der in tears.
"Arthur and Harvey's
strengths are intelligence, re-
flection and creativity," said Dr.
Victor Bloom, a longtime mutu-
al friend. "In a way, this type of
close relationship is different for
men. But it's not unusual to find
kindred spirits — soul mates."
Soul mates with completely
different styles.
Mr. Schneider is definitely fo-
cused on the "big picture" and
doesn't distinguish himself from
his sculpture.
Mr. Ovshinsky has built a rep-

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Arthur
Schneider
in his studio:
A one-man
room filled
with ideas.

ating art in his Franklin Village
studio has caught the imagina-
tion of local filmmaker Harvey
Ovshinsky, who made a book col-
laboration with Mr. Schneider
the subject of his latest docu-
mentary, The Wall.
The two longtime friends had
begun working on a children's
book, also titled The Wall, when
the combination of Mr. Schnei-
der's work ethic and a sudden
tragic circumstance struck Mr.
Ovshinsky with the compelling
need to film and document their
collaboration.
Drawing on his own financial
resources, donations and support
of his friends, Mr. Ovshinsky's ef-
fort is strikingly similar to Young
At Heart, the Oscar award-win-
ning documentary of several
years ago by local filmmaker Sue
Marx.

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