The iotaWeekly, March 29-April 5, 2010
Clip of the Week
“iotaSalon: Performance and Q&A with J.Walt” (2010) by iotaCenter and J. Walt Adamczyk
Watch a clip from February 2010 iotaSalon at UCLA featuring J. Walt performing and creating wildly imaginative animation before a live audience. J. Walt also discusses the equipment and process involved in bringing “Spontaneous Fantasia” to life.
Site of the Week
USC’s John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts
Visit USC’s John C. Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts and discover one of the most innovative animation programs in the world that prides itself on the multicultural and international approach to bringing innovative storytelling and experimentation to the field of animation. Chaired by the talented Sheila Sofian, DADA hosts a faculty of both independent and commercial animators and produces some of the most talented filmmakers.
Artist of the Week
Hy Hirsh
Hy Hirsh (1911-1961) worked at Columbia Studios as editor, cameraman and still photographer from 1930-1936 in order to support himself while developing a reputation as an art photographer. He worked as a WPA photographer from 1936-37, eventually becoming official photographer for the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco. During this time he presented numerous one-man photography exhibitions. He began collaborating with Sidney Peterson and with Harry Smith as well as others like Frank Stauffacher, Jordan Belson, Patricia Marx and Larry Jordan. Hirsh began making his own abstract animation films in 1951, while still producing documentary films for American television.
In 1955, Hirsh moved to Europe, working in Spain, Holland (at the puppet animation studio Dollywood), and France on advertising films, as well as producing photographs for Elle, Realities, Vanity Fair and other glossy magazines. His films Autumn Spectrum and Gyromorphosis received awards at the 1958 Brussels Exposition. In addition to these formal films, he also prepared multiple-projection shows with live jazz performances.
In 1961, he died suddenly of a heart attack. The presence of his films at the Creative Film Society in Los Angeles after 1965 proved a seminal influence on emerging filmmakers Pat O’Neill, William Moritz and Chick Strand.
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