Kinetic Typography-from 2006-but excellent

This is one of the first I'd seen and I had to hunt it down on the internet to finally find it.  Now that "kinetic typography" is a "thing," I suppose it is only one in a sea of many.  But, still worth watching for all of the information and the way it's expressed.

Video Artist Douglas Gordon-- interview

Stan Douglas, well-known for his piece, "24 Hour Psycho" which slows the movie down so it plays over a 24 hour period, creates art that "overturns traditional uses of video by playing with time elements and employing multiple monitors" (Wikipedia). Nice interview with him from the Smithsonian:

Jan Svankmajer's "Dimensions of Dialog" (1982, Czech Rep.)

Jan Svankmajer (Czech Republic) is one of the best at stop motion animation and the use of everyday objects. My favorite pieces are psychologically complex and address relationships and power dynamics.
This first one isn't a great YouTube copy, but it's better than nothing...

Jiri Trnka's "The Hand" (1965, Czech Republic)

Terrific Eastern European political stop motion animation about the "hand" of government destroying creativity, independent thought. Playful and dark.

Jan Lenica's "Labyrinth" (1963), Poland

I'm a big fan of these Eastern European animations that costumed their anti-totalitarian message with cutouts and puppets. Made in 1963, Lenica created "Labyrinth" a self-consciously Kafka-esque tale of a winged lonely man literally devoured by totalitarian rule. Along with Jiří Trnka's Ruka (The Hand, 1965), Labyrinth is considered to be one of the finest political animations ever made.

Man Builds Rube Goldberg Machine in Basement Using Common Household Gadgetry

A friend of mine who knows my love of all things kinetic (John Freyer) sent me this great link.

The maker of this fantastical machine (Daniel Heggerty, St. Louis, MO) described the process of making like this:

"Developed organically, the room started with one exercycle on the bench and the thought, "What can this become?" From there, visual and comedic mechanics were added day by day to create a space that with the push of a button, the room would erupt with motion and activity."

Journalism in the Age of Data: Documentary

One of my favorite pet subjects: Data Visualization! And now Geoff McGee has made a nice documentary about it and journalism. This from the incredible website: Information Aesthetics.
We are increasingly surrounded by and are drowning in mountains and mountains of data which would necessitate having artists and designers on board for any project involving data, no? SOMEONE needs to make the data coherent and give it a visible/physical representation, no?


Journalism in the Age of Data from geoff mcghee on Vimeo.

Visualizing sound using new technologies

Data sculpture created using a CNC mill: This looks and seems pretty techy--a sound wave is made physical through lots of processing and tools.
When the light beam goes over the otherwise abstract bunch of carved bumps, a soundwave form/line drawing becomes visible. There is an odd connection made between the still physical object and changing sounds/music.


Reflection II from Datdatdat / A. N. Fischer on Vimeo.

Winsor McKay, comic artist turned animator, 1911

Nice construction of "how it was made." The transformation of his comic "Little Nemo in Slumberland" (a gorgeously illustrated dreamworld) into an animation is dramatized here. It's a fun one to watch. Why don't we dress in suits to draw and animate?

Lotte Reiniger, silhouette animation, 1926, Germany

One of the few women mentioned in the history of animation. Invented her own form: silhouette films, that were imitated by many. Her work was featured in the 2010 Site Santa Fe exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Ladislaw Starewicz - animating insects, 1912, Russia

One of his more famous works:

Emile Cohl - 1908!

Early hand drawn- to look like chalkboard drawings.

Emile Reynaud and his Theater Optique, 1890's

Gorgeous 19th century pre-cinema device.
This first one is a nice 3D simulation of how his theater mechanism worked:




This is the resultant movie from hundreds of stills:

Post-It Notes gone wild: DEADLINE

Playful, laborious, a joy to watch.

Storycorps Animations--real conversations are synched with drawn characters

StoryCorps » Germans in the Woods
The radio feature project, "StoryCorps," plays on National Public Radio stations every Friday. They feature one short conversation or story that is taped in a booth that travels around the country. Terrific stories.

Blu's amazing wall-painted animations

The latest: Big Bang Big Boom. A city's walls, streets, and structures come alive with hand drawn creatures. The site specificity of the work is as crucial as it is in Banksy's work, only this is temporary! 



BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Amazing site for Early Visual Media: Precinema, photo, mechanical things

Early Visual Media is an amazing and comprehensive site maintained by Thomas Weynants in Belgium. Also some cool stuff on Fairground Arts and Conjuring Arts.

Virgil Widrich's labor of love: "Fast Film"

One of my all time favorites: 1000s of color copies and cutouts of Hollywood film stills.



And, how it was done: