What’s He Building? (2006, 6.7MB, 1 min.)
Matt Smithson is a gifted illustrator whose videos incorporate text,
drawing and photography into rich animated collages.
This video perfectly complements the Tom Waits reading it accompanies.
By Mica.
Monthly Archives: April 2008
Terminally Ambivalent Over You – Alex Budovsky
Terminally Ambivalent Over You (2002, 26.1MB, 3:19 min.)
Based on Stephen Coate‘s song from the album ‘When Psyche meets Cupid’,
this animation tells the story of a prisoner who works in a prison’s
gramophone factory and while assembling gramophones thinks of his girlfriend.
Neat stuff from Alex Budovsky, aka Aleksey Budovskiy.
Lee Sarter
Memory Loss (2008, 61.4MB, 2:13 min)
No Exit (2008, 38.2MB, 2:19 min)
Two pieces from Lee Sarter.
Memory Loss is an unequivocal success in my view,
evocative, very nicely constructed & haunting.
(Even manages to temporarily subdue my deeply felt &
longstanding antipathy to ambient sounding piano
soundtracks)
I don’t think No Exit works quite so well but it’s clear
in both that there’s a thinking & creative filmic intelligence at work here.
I look forward to more.
Sam Renseiw
Moves and Shadows (2008, 17.5MB, 3:17 min)
3:17 min of visual enchantment from the genius Dane
in this utterly ravishing dance vid.
Beck – Girl
Motion Theory – Beck – Girl (2007, 38.9MB, 3:28)
From Venice, California visual design/filmmaking studio
Motion Theory, this laid back Beck video was directed
by Mathew Cullen and Grady Hall.
My Temporary Visiting Position From The Sunset Terrace Bar – Carlo Zanni
My Temporary Visiting Position From The Sunset Terrace Bar (2008, 30 MB, 4:10 min.)
“Set in the city of Ahlen, Germany, “My Temporary Visiting Position From The Sunset Terrace Bar“, imitates an amateur’s film of the landscape framed at sunset.
While the city strip is pre recorded the sky is captured in real time from a webcam shooting the sky of Naples (Italy) at sunset and as such, always changing.
The work, confronting themes such as exile, migration and border control, is enhanced by a poem by the esteemed author Ghada Samman and music by the international band Gotan Project and legendary composer Gabriel Yared.”
Clip from the beautiful project by Carlo Zanni.
The Puffy Chair
Jay and Mark Duplass – The Puffy Chair (2005, 6.3MB, 2:14)
Debut feature from the Duplass brothers, a few years
old, and part of the Mumblecore filmmaking movement,
which I seem to be partial towards.
Scenes of Provincial Life – A Generative QuickTime Movie by Michael Szpakowski
Scenes of Provincial Life (2005, 3.5MB, each loop 25 sec.)
“Well, it does what it says on the box – let it loop and pretty much every cycle will be
different, both image & sound. #87 in a continuing sequence, my first but
definitely won
Sex Positive
Daryl Wein – Sex Positive (2008, 16MB, 2:43)
Groundbreaking film from 24-year-old Daryl Wein.
I hate it when people mention my youthful age, but
I think since I know my motivations for doing it, I’ll
just accept that we all mean it as a compliment.
Wein’s portrait of 1980s AIDS activist Richard Berkowitz
is such a contribution to our modern understanding of the
history of AIDS and gay rights activism. One of the first
to speak out about the need for safe sex in the gay
community, Berkowitz was ridiculed and ostracized.
This excellent documentary finds Berkowitz today and
revisits his time as an S&M sex worker before becoming
an outspoken critic of the AIDS epidemic. Much of the older
footage is also courtesy of Berkowitz.
An outstanding collaboration.
Sacha Baron Cohen – Borat – Wine Tasting
wine tasting (2002, 28MB, 3:57 min.)
British chameleon Baron Cohen as Borat – the spoof Kazakh television presenter.
more Borat here.
Rubber Band Hand – Brian Liloia
Rubber Band Hand (2005, 21.4 MB, 2:47 min.)
A young man discovers the limits of his newfangled
rubber band hand. From – Brian Liloia.
Jillian Mcdonald – Me and Billy Bob
Me and Billy Bob (2004, 22.7MB, 7:04 min.)
Jillian inserted herself into existing film clips as the recurring
object of actor Billy Bob Thornton
WalMart Growth
Toby Segaran – WalMart Growth (2008, 6.6MB, 0:46)
Toby Segaran isn’t a media artist – he’s actually
a software developer and writer. But, he made
this excellent video clip of American WalMart growth
from 1962 to the present on his off time at work,
and the way I see it, the best work sometimes
happens when you, well, aren’t working. Similar
to these videos made with the processing language.
LeedsVlog #1
Woodhouse Sunset (Alison Booth , 2007, 32.9MB, 1:17 min)
21 Today (Patrick Devlin, 2007, 20.2MB, 53 secs)
Soundcheck (Chris Harman, 2007, 45.3MB, 3:24 min)
At the end of last year I taught a course, which I rather pompously entitled
‘Videoblogging for Artists’, at Leeds College of Art.
The students made 5 videos each over a ten day period & some of what they
made stands up with the best.
The whole 100 or so to date are up here but I’m going to post two or three batches
of my favourites on dvblog over the next couple of weeks.
Bottomunion – The Endangered P-Money Bird
The Endangered P-Money Bird (2005, 14.5MB, 2:23 min.)
Erik Nelson’s videos are always funny and poetic. He posts new work regularly
on his vlog – Bottomunion.
music by – dudley from – Autres Directions.
By Mica.
Standard Operating Procedure
Errol Morris – Standard Operating Procedure (2008, 11.2MB, 2:00)
We don’t hide our love for Errol Morris – see here
and here – but there’s no need for us to apologize.
The man is a genius. His latest feature, Standard
Operating Procedure, interviews Abu Ghraib prison
guards and tells the story behind the now-infamous
photographs of abuse from the prison, uncovered in
2003. Dubbed a “nonfiction horror film” by Morris,
this investigative film, much like A Thin Blue Line,
helped Morris once again dig deeper into a crime
file, this one just more contemporary.
When you see a picture, you don’t see outside the frame.
With the frightening pictures as a jumping off point,
Morris interviews those involved with the scandal to
get the whole story.
Can’t wait to see this one.
Rock History
Rock History (2006, 6.3 MB, 2:34 min.)
Ugly pictures and Man VS Magnet have created a short film play before
the Battle of the Ad Bands at Irving Plaza in New York. (The show is a
charity venue where advertising agency garage bands compete for the
best band and all the proceeds go to help the public schools of New York.)
The result is a funny and hilarious and violent animation about the recent
music history, and especially the design of the LPs.
from its art mag.
pixelbirds – cube pusher
Cube Pusher (2007, 31MB, 2:49 min)
Deft & very attractive interweaving of video & live performance from pixelbirds.
They make it look effortless; of course it’s anything but.
There’s an interesting form emerging here, with this physical intervention/relation
of live performers to a projection.
This notion has some way to unfold yet, I think, but
this is an excellent staging post.
Anna Chiaretta Lavatelli
Anna Chiaretta Lavatelli – SHE:contaminated (2005, 33.5MB, 13:58)
Brooklyn-based Anna Chiaretta Lavatelli works in
video and super 8 film.
An explanation of SHE:contaminated:
An examination of cellular abnormalities in video and
super 8mm film in which the three identities of the
character SHE confront the nature of their malformation,
and the affected woman they have collectively become.
I find this piece so moving, particularly the openly segment.
Her metaphors are completely brilliant and resonate with me,
perhaps mostly as a woman but also as an artist.
Also a huge fan of her supposedly poor compression –
love the idea, love the execution.
Blow Up Media
DELOS (2007, 36 MB, 7:15 min.)
A great corporate satire by The Blow Up Media.
thanks yoshi.
The Intimacy of Strangers – Eva Weber
Eva Weber – The Intimacy of Strangers (2007, 7.4MB, 2:23)
Trailer for the innovative The Intimacy of Strangers,
“a story of life, love, loss and hope – told entirely
through overheard mobile phone conversations of
random strangers.”
Winner of several festival awards, including the President’s
Award at the 2007 Full Frame Film Festival, which is extra
exciting as Full Frame is one of the first festivals that has
started showing videoblog work within the last year. Be sure
to check out the excellent IoS website, a wonderful complement
to the actual film.
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005, 27.3MB, 2:43)
Trailer for the brilliant 2005 film
Lovely and humorous teaser for an equally delightful movie
From female mastermind Miranda July