Quirky Pictures conducts another animation workshop for school children. This time it was a nine day workshop at Great Missenden C of E Combined School. The students made four films based on tales from around the world. I love the freely drawn lines and cutout characters combined with the very matter of fact narration by the kids. They are good storytellers. What fun art classes like these must be. I never had so much fun when I was a kid. I’m a bit jealous.
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Home Parts 1 and 2: Films by Ryan Spring Dooley
Ryan Spring Dooley (aka MarvinTiberious on YouTube) made this animated art film about home and what that means. He does lots of these free-form works that are actually the current state of the art as far as I’m concerned. The artist lives and works in Italy, painting on nearly everything.
Lovely Lovely: Art Documentary by Matthew Collings
Mature Content and Language
This is another episode in the art documentary series, This is Modern Art, by Matthew Collings. In this episode, Collings explores the place of beauty in modern art. How does beauty fit into art that tries to shock? What is the purpose of beauty in art? Doesn’t most conceptual art try to dispense with beauty entirely? Is beauty something we need for comfort? Does it have something to say in art or is it just a distraction?
Part 2
Parts 3 – 5 after the jump
Three Big Pigs – A Middle East Revolution Animation
Egor Zhgun presents a cartoon news report on the revolutions rocking the Middle East. Some of these revolutions, though coming from noble intentions, are failing miserably. Egypt has rid itself of a dictator only to be taken over by a barbaric military that conducts organized rape and torture of men and women who seek to engage in any further protests. Egypt is now a military dictatorship. It is sheer stupidity to believe otherwise. I won’t go visit the pyramids any time soon because I don’t want to be raped by Egyptian soldiers.
Photo: Famous Monster Mask
Photo: Body Bag 2
Photo: Body Bag
This is Modern Art – A Documentary Film by Matthew Collings
Mature content and language:
So this is a 1990s documentary about modern art. Matthew Collings, an artist himself, leads us through Picasso, Pollock and Warhol to try to get some glimmer of an idea on what modern art might be. I like the approach of admitting confusion and investigating the various possibilities. I must admit that I’ve always held Picasso in the highest position among artists, but the quotes attributed to him are seeming more threadbare with each repetition. I feel that Pollock was some kind of accidental moron who produced absolutely magnificent works. The first time I ever approached a Pollock at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, I was quite literally blown away and actually said out loud, ‘Oh holy fucking shit! That’s what it is.’ The painting was enormous with lots of black and white in it. But the size was not really significant. What hit me in the head about it was that it suddenly went 3D on me. It almost made me dizzy. I saw all the layers and complexities and they were overwhelming. But nevertheless, Pollock is moronic and doesn’t hold the interest.
I’ve always felt that the sly, insulting, flippant intelligence of Andy Warhol was an extremely important aspect of art in the 20th century. His odd repetitive behavior, both verbal and visual, makes the great statement of modern art. I think Warhol’s art can only exist in its relationship to film. In fact, I think Warhol’s work is entirely filmic. There is probably not a single painting in his entire body of mature work. It is easy for many people to insult Warhol and dismiss him as junk. I suspect that would make him very happy. Warhol is kind of like Los Angeles. The good stuff is hidden in the dumpy shop at the end of the strip mall you’re driving past. You have to go inside and look around a bit or you won’t find it. Most people move to LA and drift through it with their second-hand little dream and a part-time job while they try to become someone they once saw in a magazine. Meanwhile, they’re just a person from Iowa who’s never even looked at LA. They’ll go back to die in Iowa while watching soap operas and smoking American Spirits. Warhol knew that almost everyone you meet is that person from Iowa who doesn’t have any eyes and his art is code for how to avoid them. He wanted you to watch him on television and think he was an idiot. He was actually in the wrong city. New York was over in the fifties. He should have moved to LA.
Part 2:
Watch parts 3 – 5 after the jump
Blinky – Science Fiction Film by Ruairi Robinson
This short science fiction film about a robot playmate/servant by Ruairi Robinson is disturbing because it forces the viewer to be shocked by what happens to a repellent leading character. Personally, I cannot watch the film without silently cheering the little robot on. In fact, more robots should be programmed just like him.
Japanese TEPCO Executives Should be Forced to Work in Fukushima Death Camp
A Japanese TEPCO executive visited a temporary shelter for evacuees in the area of the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster, bowing and apologizing for causing such a ‘nuisance.’
‘Nuisance.’
If this man bows a bit lower, someone should take the opportunity to kick his head through a plate glass window.
These Japanese power company nincompoops are not only disrespectful, but they are quite possibly criminals.
The CEO of TEPCO has all but disappeared, requiring low-level employees to work in his nuclear death camp, risking their health and lives for a company that has been shown to have falsified inspections when not skipping them altogether.
The TEPCO CEO should be forced to work in his own death camp. Then when he is done there and has suffered irreparable cellular damage, he should be tried and sent to prison.
Apparently, a Japanese government minister this week threatened firefighters with punishment unless they continued to work hard at the disintegrating nuclear plant.
It really pains me to watch highly paid executives and inert Japanese politicians kill workers, soldiers and firemen by forcing them to work in what amounts to a death camp.
The photo is from AFP.
The House in the Middle – Possibly the Most Insane Film Ever
The U.S. government wants you to keep your house tidy and clean. If you don’t, it’ll get blown up and burned to a cinder by an atomic bomb blast. Seriously. This is the entire message of this ridiculous 1954 U.S. government educational film about the effects of a nuclear blast. It seems obvious to me that if you were working for the U.S. government in the fifties you were just a drooling simpleton. This film actually goes from mind-boggling insanity to postmodern masterpiece if you squint at it in the right way. It represents nearly everything you need to know about the 20th century in America.
Dreams Ripple ~ Here Now – Japanese Animation by Akinori Okada
What the heck is this? I have no idea. But I like it. It looks like nothing I’ve seen so far. Seems to have something to do with a magic box of dreams maybe. Dream characters dance about and frolic with strange projections and shadows. There’s an element of old Japanese folktales with tiny toys or figures coming to life at night. Very strange.
The film was made by Akinori Okada in 2009.
Snow – 1963 Short Film by Geoffrey Jones
This 1963 film was nominated for an Oscar. Director Geoffrey Jones captured the shovel work being done to keep British rail lines open during the winter. It’s an elegant and beautifully edited short film. You can read more about its origin and rhythmic beat editing at the BFI site.
Made available by the British Film Institute.
March 22 is World Water Day
Today is World Water Day. Try to save a few gallons of water today.
The Animated Films of Painter György Kovásznai
While visiting Your Daily Cartoon, I watched an animated film by Hungarian painter György Kovásznai. I liked the calm mishmash of drawing styles and quiet humor. The 1965 film is called Mesék a m?veszet világából (Tales From the World of Art). It has no subtitles but is pretty easy to follow, taking a bemused look at several kinds of art. The first part is an action movie, the second is a theatrical piece, the third is a piano recital.
This one is called Várakozni jó (Waiting for Good). It’s about a traffic jam with a truck that suddenly opens its back doors and explodes into a 1969 rock & roll jam. The wild sketchy ever-changing animation style is more psychedelic than most commercialized sixties psychedelia could ever be.
This one is Gitáros fiú a régi képtárban (Boy Guitarist of the Old Hits) from 1964. It’s simply a guitarist playing and dancing his way through artworks by old masters presented in a very avant-garde fashion. Understanding the art is one thing, but the person who can truly enjoy it is far ahead in the game.