Mint Chicks – Walking Off A Cliff Again (2007, 11MB, 2:59)
From Robbers Dog
Author Archives: brittany
Liars – Plaster Casts of Everything
Liars – Plaster Casts of Everything (2007, 21.7MB, 4:00)
Another excellent video from The Liars
From The Directors Bureau
Movies with Grandma Joy
Movies with Grandma Joy (2008, 27.3MB, 5:39)
“Grandma is serious about going to the movies.
She hates to miss the previews and she watches all of the credits.”
From the absolutely charming vlog,
Movies with Grandma Joy
The Girl You Lost To Cocaine
Daquar at the Nordic Light Hotel
Daquar at the Nordic Light Hotel (2008, 40MB, 3:38)
Excerpt from short film made for the Nordic Light Hotel,
from Swedish art and design company Daquar.
Breaktime: The Movie
David Lynch’s Daily Weather Report
David Lynch’s Daily Weather Report, November 25, 2008 (2008, 1.1MB, 0:25)
David Lynch’s Daily Weather Report, December 16, 2008 (2008, 1.1MB, 0:19)
“People are kind of interested in weather. It
Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost
Chasin’ Gus’ Ghost (2007, 70.2MB, 5:48)
Blame this post on my current obsession with jug bands
(fact: one generation back, most of my family was from
the sticks). Or blame it on my desire to bridge old and new
media. A trailer oddly lacking actual jug footage, still a nice
montage.
Official site here
Brian Gibson’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, Again
Brian Gibson – Love Will Tear Us Apart (2007, 29MB, 3:25)
More total brilliance from Brian Gibson. Posted
at Lucid Unison.
Style Crusader
When Clouds Clear
When Clouds Clear (2008, 15.3MB, 2:26)
Directed by Anne Slick and Danielle Bernstein,
When Clouds Clear is a remarkably intimate portrait
of a tiny Ecuadorian village’s struggle against
mining companies that seek to take over (and destroy)
the land they have long cultivated as their home.
Shot on a lovely mix of Super 8, 16mm, and video
to show the complexities of different viewpoints, the
film is one of the most beautiful I have had the
privilege of viewing this year.
This Way Up
Smith and Foulkes – This Way Up (2008, 3.4MB, 0:54)
Trailer for the Academy Award nominated short
from duo Smith and Foulkes.
Official film site here.
Via Nexus Productions.
Flooded McDonald’s
Superflex – Flooded McDonald’s (2009, 8.2MB, 0:41)
Clip from a twenty minute video of a McDonald’s
being fully submerged underwater. (Don’t worry –
they recycled the water, and no staff was present.)
What do you think it means? Is it a statement about
collective inability to act, climate change and multinational
corporations, or consumption?
Whatever the intentions, the video is oddly calming.
From Danish video collective Superflex.
I Made You A Balloon
Joseph Mann – I Made You A Balloon (2008, 3.6MB, 1:37)
Lovely little animation piece from Joseph Mann.
Listeners by Brantley Jones
Listeners 1 (2009, 6.7MB, 0:23)
Listeners 2 (2009, 10.5MB, 0:29)
Listeners 3 (2009, 16.2MB, 0:46)
Three lovely short remixes from Athens, Georgia
artist Brantley Jones.
The Pool Cleaner
Hammer and Tongs (2005, 16.7MB, 5:43)
More well known now for their music videos and big
screen productions, an older short from Hammer and Tongs.
Pool cleaner played by Hammer, aka Garth Jennings.
Robert Todd – NEST
Robert Todd – NEST (2008, 33.2MB, 4:36)
More from the brilliant, always poignant Robert Todd.
The NEST is a place of resting, but for the restless spirit,
it is a moving island. Here we find silence, if not solace.
This film is both the third in a series and the first of a
trilogy. To understand how it fits within Todd’s vision,
you should go watch more on his site. It will take your
breath away.
Dennis Knopf – Bootyclipse
Dennis Knopf – Bootyclipse (2007, 18.8MB, 5:38)
Found footage mashups aren’t really anything new, but
Dennis Knopf made this one from YouTube booty dancing
clips, and it makes me laugh every time I watch it.
Must Read After My Death
Must Read After My Death – Morgan Dews (2007, 23.9MB, 1:47)
When a Hartford couple turns to psychiatry for help
with their marriage in 1960, things quickly spiral out
of control. Couples counseling, individual and group
therapy and 24-hour marathon sessions ensue. Their
four children suffer and are given their own psychiatrists.
Pills are prescribed, people are institutionalized, shock-therapy
is administered. This is an intimate story in the family
Bram Crevits and Pall Thayer on Obama
Pall Thayer – Inaugurationanimation (2009, 300MB, 49:56)
As far as I know, none of us at DVblog have become
infected with Obamania. Doesn’t mean we don’t
appreciate the fine art of the remix or dig hope.
First, from Bram Crevits of Cinamatics,
Obama’s Berlin speech, composed entirely of video shot
on cell phones. Remember when the gaze was
given to us by the TV news? Now we give it back.
Second, from Pall Thayer, a silent
animation piece of the entire inauguration.
Free to download and remix as you like. We like.
Both of these pieces surprise and amaze me by the
amount of work they must have taken to compile.
Painstaking, no? Unless these gentlemen know
something I do not, these are labor-intensive pieces
in their own respective ways. Lovely and timely.
My Name Is Oona – Gunvor Nelson
Gunvor Nelson – My Name Is Oona (1969, 26.9MB, 9:12)
Historic piece from the Swedish filmmaker about her daughter.
Typical of Gunvor’s work, this film addresses themes about
nature, childhood, and maintains an ethereal quality.
Excellent early piece from a uniquely talented woman.
Hair Shoes Love and Honesty
Mike Mills – Hair Shoes Love and Honesty (2004, 13.8MB, 2:57)
From the inimitable Mike Mills.
Junk House Butt House
Lucid Unison – Bunk House (2008, 37.4MB, 3:52)
Occasional DVblog contributor Brian Gibson‘s latest
project, Lucid Unison, is part art blog, part mashup
collaboration, part band. For the band section, Junk
House Butt House, they (Brian and partner in crime
Camber Gleim) made a video, seen here. Brian’s
immeasurable talent is always a total pleasure
to experience in whatever form it takes.
Another Chance
Another Chance – Philippe Andre (2001, 13.1MB, 4:57)
“Another Chance” by Roger Sanchez, directed by
Philippe Andre.
According to Andre, this video has received the most
MTV airtime in the dance category.
The girl in this video is my personal hero(ine).
Numa Numa
Gary Brolsma – Numa Numa (2004, 3.7MB, 1:39)
Is this where I make the case that this was among
the first viral videos on the internets? Maybe, but
I’d rather just post this charming clip from the
erstwhile Staples employee from New Jersey,
dancing to Romanian pop in his bedroom.
Crosswalk – Kelly Mark
Kelly Mark – Crosswalk (2001, 1.2MB, 0:38)
Basketball court sprints at a busy intersection. Man unknown.
From Kelly Mark.
Anke Lanzon – At Times it Seems that I Awake
At Times it Seems that I Awake (2003, 116.9, 8:55)
A philosophizing bulldog reflects about the
senselessness of his dog
Official Secrets Act – So Tomorrow
The Perfect Song
Thunderant – The Perfect Song (2008, 21.6MB, 3:42)
Clever piece from Thunderant, which is primarily Carrie
Brownstein and Fred Armisen.
Hilarious and sometimes very odd, I’m so into this duo,
if only because I love what they’re doing in theory.
More folks should get together and make comedic
goodness in their free time.
Or sing weird answering machine songs. Whatever.
A holiday wish from Carl Weaver
A holiday wish – Carl Weaver (2005, 2.3MB, 0:43)
Carl Weaver is a renaissance man – photographer,
writer, doer of many things. He also has a dry humor
and delivery most of us would kill for. In 2005, he
called to wish his friend Dwayne a merry Christmas.
We similarly extend holiday greetings and well wishes
to you, from everyone here at DVblog.
Mr. Nom Nom
Katrine Emme Thielkes – Sweet Christmas #19 (2008, 1.8MB, 0:31)
The nineteenth in the Sweet Christmas series by Katrine Emme Thielkes.
Audio by Mikkel Westerkam.
Justin Kemp – hard timez
Justin Kemp – hard timez (2008, 35MB, 5:52)
Justin Kemp is a ridiculously funny video artist who,
among other things, remixes YouTube videos.
Almost nothing video related brings me as much joy
lately as this does.
Stephen Slappe – 3 out of 4
Stephen Slappe – 3 out of 4 (2005, 1.6MB, 0:45)
Short, rather humorous piece from Stephen Slappe,
which simultaneously celebrates large, antiquated rotating
advertisements and laments the disappearance of the four
basic food groups.
Uffe Ellemann-Jensen in Tokyo
Uffe Ellemann-Jensen in Tokyo – (2008, 5.1MB, 1:18)
Bear with me here: have you ever felt lost? I don’t
mean existentially. I mean alone in a place that was
not your own, a foreigner in a strange land, a stranger
in a foreign land. I have on several occasions – including
during a solo trip to Japan a few years ago – and when
this commercial came on my TV about a month back, I
couldn’t tear myself away. No, it isn’t net art or experimental
animation, but it’s beautiful and haunting and something I
certainly see far too little of on television. If you think a little
Lost in Translation, you wouldn’t be wrong for that. The guys
behind the this piece admitted in a recent interview that they
paid special attention to reproducing LiT details for fans of the film.
Other facts: this is a commercial for SAS featuring former
Danish Secretary of State, and two more similar follow-ups
are running/forthcoming (though not featuring Ellemann-Jensen or Japan,
sadly). The startlingly mournful music is appropriately from Babel.
The tagline reads, in English, “Almost home” or “As good as home.”
Erik Bunger – the Allens
Erik Bunger – the Allens (2004, 23.3MB, 3:19)
Absolutely clever piece by Swedish artist Erik Bunger,
drawn from his experience moving from Sweden to
Germany, where many films on TV are dubbed. As
language can be so central to a character, Bunger
started thinking about people like Woody Allen, who
always play the same character but also one so
connected to his whiny, nervous New York accent.
For this installation piece, a computer program
continuously changed the dubbing of Allen between
his various vocal incarnations. Totally delightful.
Invisible People
Invisible People – Larry (2008, 48.6MB, 9:21)
Invisible People is a new project from Mark Horvath
that documents homelessness in Los Angeles. The
interviews are unedited, and it can honestly be hard
to watch some of them – but isn’t that the point?
The site comes with a warning:
Caution: some content may be offensive. Our hope is
you’ll get mad enough to do something.
This particular interview is one of my favorites, as Larry
is charismatic and Mark was able to capture that easily.
But I’d encourage you to go watch the others as well.
Mark himself is in a rough financial situation that might
soon land him back on the streets too.
Seems we are often our own best advocates.
Disappointment – Carl Burgess
Carl Burgess – Disappointment (2008, 9.6MB, 0:58)
Amusing short remix from artist Carl Burgess.
Kelly Mark – A Man & A Woman
Kelly Mark – A Man & A Woman (2007, 4.5MB, 8:10)
Hilarious piece from the very funny, very talented
Kelly Mark.
Mark says: While working on my 2 hour mash-up
movie REM I kept a log book of every movie I watched
during this time. The text for “A Man & A Woman” comes
from the movie synopsis listed on the cable tv menu.
The piece starts off with one word descriptions and
then more and more adjectives are added.
Three from Spoon
The Ghost of You Lingers (2007, 22.9MB, 3:34)
Everything Hits At Once (2001, 17.8MB, 4:03)
Being objective about Spoon is hard for me. We have history.
I was way younger than I’ll admit when I bought Girls Can Tell,
upon its release.
Soon after followed a deep love for their range and growth as a band.
I watched band members come in and go out, Britt Daniel and Jim Eno
ultimately the utensil glue.
I went to shows. I screamed. I took pictures. I didn’t take video.
I tried to stay in the moments.
I still do these things. I went to a concert of theirs a few months back
and didn’t even take my camera inside.
They don’t come through my current town of residence as much, but when
they do, I’ll be there. I have every EP and 7″ single they’ve made.
It is important.
I watch these videos and I think about what it all means.
I don’t know who made any of these, which makes me an ignorant curator
and fan, but that praise isn’t the goal this time for me.
I just want to share some nice videos that mean something to me.
(Why else would I bother doing this at all?)
To follow a band, to know you wouldn’t make a documentary about them
if given the opportunity because it would forever alter your deep relationship
with who you believe them to be and what you believe their music means.
To watch, to listen as corporate radio realizes their greatness. It only took
eleven years. Twelve?
You see the videos that others make and think, okay. It is here. That’s okay.
These are better than okay.
Mischa Kuball – Public Square
Mischa Kuball – Public Square (date unknown, 4.4MB, 2:41)
Do you miss the public square, the everyperson
common space? Yeah, so did Mischa Kuball. So
he made this. It’s quite fantastic. Enjoy.
Cindy Sherman – Doll Clothes
Cindy Sherman – Doll Clothes (1975, 21.2MB, 2:24)
One of Cindy Sherman’s first Super 8 films.
An excellent early view into the overtly
feminine, introspective work of the artist
that would later follow.
Kinetocast in autumn
Kinetocast – To Watch In Preparation For The Deep Fall (2006, 8.5MB, 1:25)
Kinetocast – To Watch For Help Getting Through (2007, 16.9MB, 2:55)
Two more from the endlessly delightful kinetocast,
conceptual pieces about existential moments.
2 from Bernard Gigounon
Zach Kmiec – mmmff
Mmmff Activities Workshop 2006: Call for entries (2006, 10.1MB, 1:58)
Mmmff Activities Workshop 2006 (2006, 13.8MB, 3:44)
Here’s the setup:
Jennifer Proctor taught a videoblogging class at the
University of Iowa in 2006. Every student set up
his/her own videoblog and made vloggy goodness.
Then, many abandoned their work, though I’d
personally expect nothing less.
While I knew one of the students in the class
(UI is one of my alma maters), a guy I didn’t
know – mmmff – caught my attention more.
Using a cell phone I’m pretty sure he just found
somewhere, Zach then made collage videos of the
five seconds or less the phone would capture in every go.
In the first video, the premise of the phone and
its limitations are introduced, and in the second
follow-up piece, the plan – to make a compilation
of activities you can do in 5 seconds or less – is executed.
It’s pretty much the opposite of boring, predictable,
talk-to-your-camera vids that litter so many hosting
services these days.
This is video functioning within constraints.
It’s also wildly hilarious.
Some of the very best random and weird videoblog
work I’ve ever seen.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Seth Brau – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2008, 18.1MB, 4:31)
Really lovely piece of moving typology from
Seth Brau of the Human Rights Action Center.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
turns 60 this year. Read the full text here.
Music from Rumspringa.
Video via Osocio
Sharon Hayes – Symbionese Liberation Army Screeds #13, 16, 20 & 29
Sharon Hayes – Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) Screeds #13, 16, 20 & 29 (2002, 7.4MB, 2:49)
Between 2001 and 2002, artist Sharon Hayes
reenacted four tapes from the SLA Patty Hearst
abduction in 1974. These respeakings were
performed before an audience, mostly memorized,
but the audience was instructed to correct or feed
Hayes a line when she made a mistake.
Entertaining, reflective, and somewhat moving.
A real treat whether you lived through the original
events or not.
What Is – The Cupcake – or – King of the Hill
What Is – The Cupcake – or – King of the Hill (2005, 11.1MB, 2:58)
Very funny war film spoof from defunct vlog What Is.
Will Luers – Commute
Will Luers – Commute (unnamed one of eight) (2001, 3.6MB, 1:00)
Will Luers – Commute (unnamed one of eight) (2001, 3.5MB, 1:00)
I set myself the task of recording the same route
to work (Brooklyn-Manhattan) eight different
mornings from winter through spring. Each
segment was edited to exactly 60 seconds.
The linear and cylical experience of the urban
commuter lends itself to the database structure.
Will Luers, also known as Taylor Street Studios and
various projects under the name SolubleFish, has a
great history of making web video. Sometimes artists
are a little miffed when we post their older work, but
I think respecting your own history is important.
Luers’s work is no different. This piece from 2001
might seem obvious in 2008, when taping your
commute seems pedestrian (hah) and obvious.
But these vignettes – eight in total – are a lovely
reflection on repetition, routine, and subtle change.
Simon’s Cat
Simon’s Cat – “TV Dinner” (2008, 8.8MB, 2:35)
Award-winning sketch (Best Comedy at British
Animation Awards), of the several available,
this is my favorite video. Each is equally
endearing, and I’m particularly fond of the
amusing vocals.
From London’s Tandem Films
Ari Marcopoulos – Claremont
Ari Macopoulos – Claremont (2008, 50.5MB, 10:44)
Okay, this requires some breakdown and explanation.
So Adam Kimmel is an NYC men’s wear designer. This
video is a promo for his Spring 2009 line. And you’re
thinking, what does this have to do with video art or
conceptual cinema or animation? Right. Well, not much.
But what it does have to do with is the Internet. The way
that now, we get to see things we didn’t five years ago.
Five years ago, this video would have been shown at some
runway event that few to none of us would ever fathom
attending – not that they’d let us in the door. And I’m not
worried about that. But I am worried about not seeing great
video. And that changed.
So now, you can watch this insane video of two skater guys –
yes, in Adam Kimmel suits, that’s the point – ride down wild
hills, dodging cars, in southern California. It isn’t that this
has superior quality – the first two minutes are a little dry –
and it doesn’t say anything meaningful about the evolution
of digital video, though they did make an HD version, if that
sort of thing interests you. But you get to see it, and you
probably wouldn’t get this point of view unless you’re a
gifted skater in our midst and we had no idea. It would also
be tacky to hate on this kind of video because the skill of
skating, filming, and not wiping out is something laudable
on its own. This kind of extreme boarding? Well, it clearly
struck a chord with me. No one makes this video for a film
festival, and if they did, it wouldn’t be like this. The Internet
is the natural home for this sort of piece. I’m just saying that
I’m glad the house was built.
Video by Ari Macopoulos.
Muto by BLU
BLU – Muto (2008, 30.7MB, 6:54)
Fairly surreal wall painted graffiti animation from BLU,
shot in Baden and Buenos Aires over the past two years.
Always pleasing to see street art legitimized, this piece is
particularly fun and feels much shorter than its run time.
Laric – 50 50, 50 50 2008
Oliver Laric – 50 50 (2007, 12.1MB, 2:06)
Oliver Laric has really grown on us over time.
In 2007, he mashed up fifty YouTube videos of
random kids lip-syncing (or really singing, sort of)
to “In Da Club,” “Candy Shop,” and “How We Do”
by the American rap artist (artist?) 50 Cent,
leaving them in their original YouTube format.
Also keep in mind that “In Da Club” is around five
years old by now. I guess the youth know what they
like, though it’s worth noting these songs are generally
foul and offensive at best. Nevertheless, due to what I’m
calling the constant influx of amateur 50 Cent covers onto
YouTube, Laric decided that he had to make a follow-up
video, 50 50 2008, seen below.
Just
Radiohead – Just (1995, 11MB, 4:05)
Arguably one of the , and
certainly one of the formative videos of my youth.
It never gets old or feels cliched, no matter what is
made today of new weight and relevance.
Video directed James Thraves.
Protest Films
Alex Pearl – Protest Film Nottingham (2006, 7.6MB, 1:36)
Protest films…usually films about people protesting
something unjust in the world.
Or, perhaps you meant Protest Films, the conceptual
robot-banner-waving collection of videos wherein
little machines “protest,” more generally speaking.
This is the first from the long-running,
Arts Council-supported series from artist
and renaissance man Alex Pearl.
If you’d like to participate or create your own
Clockwork Protest, visit the blog and email Alex
for a protest kit.
John Baldessari – I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art
John Baldessari – I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art (1971, 135.3MB, 13:13)
One of my favorite older pieces from legendary artist
John Baldessari. Commissioned in ’71 to make an
installation piece, Baldessari couldn’t make the trip
and instructed students to write on the walls in his
place. Inspired by their results – that they covered
the gallery with this phrase – he made this video,
following his usual path of pointing out irony in art.
Look for follow-up pieces like “Teaching A Plant The
Alphabet” if you have the time. Classic.
Via the indispensable UbuWeb
Always on Time
Random Show – Always on Time (2005, 4.4MB, 2:22)
Oh, how I loved this video. And how I still do.
If you don’t get it, look up the Ja Rule/Ashanti version.
From the now defunct Random Show.
3 from Kinetocast
Kinetocast – To Watch While Smelling Summer (2007, 8.2MB, 1:30)
Kinetocast – To Watch With Any Spectacle (2007, 8MB, 1:21)
Kinetocast – To Watch Feeling Betrayed (2006, 2.7MB, 0:35)
Three from the wildly amusing, all too infrequently updated kinetocast.
All based on the idea that these short videos can be watched as they
are labeled appropriate to time or event, this entire videoblog is fairly
genius conceptual work. Also worth checking out from Mack McFarland,
The Portland That Was….
More of these to come…
Western Spaghetti
PES – Western Spaghetti (2008, 18.3MB, 1:41)
New innovative work from PES.
Tough Enough
Lukas Blakk – Tough Enough (2006, 11.4MB, 3:41)
Lovely, poignant film from Lukas Blakk,
who always says such honest things,
even if she’s mostly too busy to post anymore.
Silver Lining
Autumn Wilde – Rilo Kiley, Silver Lining (2007, 19.8MB, 3:45)
A very lovely Rilo Kiley video from Autumn Wilde.