Heath Ledger's Projects With L.A. Art Collective 'The Masses' Reach Fruition

But the star's presence is still missed

Comments (0) By Randall Roberts Wednesday, Dec 31 2008

When nature filmmaker [Tristan] Bayer sets one of his prints on a mantel — a peaceful shot of a group sitting around a campfire at night — a scene from a year prior jumps into the room. Taken from perhaps 10 feet away, all the people glow orange inside the night. You feel the warmth just looking at it.

Bayer shot it in August 2007 on a beach in Mexico during a Masses surfing trip. For the dozen or so there ... it was a spur-of-the-moment respite, a motivator, a sort of commitment ceremony and understanding that the company Heath had decided to finance 10 months prior was more than just a company.

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“Heath just kind of came in one day and said, ‘Let’s get an RV and go to Mexico,’” recounts [Sara] Cline. “I said, ‘Heath, we have a company to run, and those are working days.’ And he said, ‘But it’s our company, and we can do whatever we want.’”

Over the next week, the dozen camped on the beach, surfed during the day and cooked and talked through the night. Recalls Cline: “It was free. We had only ever existed in L.A. together, and there was always a sort of nervous energy to Heath in the city. Every time he’d walk down the street, he’d get recognized, and he felt maybe a little restricted by that. [Mexico] was a place where nobody knew where the fuck he was, and it was very liberating for him. I think it was liberating for all of us.”