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iotaNews – March – Aug 2009

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 The iotaWeekly  – August 3-9, 2009

 

 

Clip of the Week
Tongul Torture (2009) by Chris Casady


Watch the colorfully frantic and dynamic excerpt from “Tongul Torture,” a work-in-progress from award-winning animator Chris Casady (Pencil Dance, Puddle Jumper).Chris can be seen on the panel of the August 17 event “Infinite Animation: The Work of Adam Beckett,” presented by The iotaCenter and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Science and Technology Council, at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood, CA.

Find out more about Casady and his work at his page at The Visual Music Village.
Site of the Week
Echo Park Film CenterEcho Park Film Center is a non-profit media arts organization located in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. EPFC makes an effort to champion local filmmaking by providing the community with exhibitions, an extensive film library, affordable classes and equipment rental, and an international touring festival showcasing local established and emerging filmmakers. Learn more about the EPFC and submit your film for future programming today!

Echo Park Film Center is also hosting the August 13 event, “Calculations: Pioneers of Computer Animation,” organized by Jodie Mack and curated by Amy Beste and The iotaCenter.
Artist of the Week

Jodie Mack“Jodie Mack is a Chicago-based artist working in various forms of cut-out and stop-motion animation. Her films combine traditional feminine crafts with rhythmic editing and obsessive nuance to create a radical domesticity that is new to the film world.

Mack received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in 2008 was the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Media Arts Fellowship. She works with young filmmakers and spends her free time making pop-up cards and coordinating screenings and film festivals.”–Flavorpill

Jodie Mack’s 29-minute, 16mm animated film Yard Work is Hard Work premiered August 2008 in Chicago and was screened earlier this year at the Panorama Theater in Los Angeles. Be sure to catch the upcoming August 13 event, “Calculations: Pioneers of Computer Animation,” organized by Jodie Mack in conjunction with The iotaCenter at Echo Park Film Center.

The iotaWeekly – July 27-August 2, 2009

 

 

from Scratch Pad

 

 Clip of the Week
Scratch Pad (1960) by Hy Hirsh


“Hy Hirsh’s (1911-1961) filmmaking grew out of the unique combination of his generous aesthetic bon vivant personality, his still photography which took him far and wide, and his extraordinary technical facility which allowed him to build his own optical printer, recording studio, etc. By the time he composed his first personal film, he had participated in making a dozen experimental films by other people…”–Dr. William Moritz
Site of the Week
Society for Animation Studies“The Society for Animation Studies (SAS) is an international organization dedicated to the study of animation history and theory. It was founded by Dr. Harvey Deneroff in 1987. Each year, the SAS holds an annual conference at locations throughout the world, where members present their recent research.”
from Slither

 

 Artist of the Week
Jeffers Egan“Jeffers Egan’s work defines a new digital aesthetic for Video and Fine Art. Developed entirely with handcrafted, computer based algorithmic processes, Egan’s abstract animations explore the concepts of digital as organism, and software as ecosystem. His motion paintings, Live AV performances, and videos have been showcased worldwide at festivals, galleries and museums including Transmediale, Netmage, Dissonanze, Plateaux, Cimatics, Interieur Biennale, Walker Art Museum, Guggenheim Bilbao, and the New York Video Festival. Egan’s work has acheived international critical acclaim, nominated for media art awards at the D-Motion, Popkomm and Backup festivals, and hailed as ‘astounding'(Groove), ‘beautiful'(New York Times), ‘fascinating'(Musicwoche), ‘an extremely provocative multi-media performance with an absolutely unique aesthetic'(KEYS), ‘a mesmerizing and meditative experience(ArtWeek)” and “the most advanced trip imaginable in the current field of video art.'(De:Bug)”–www.jefferseagan.com

Purchase Jeffers Egan’s “Slither” at the iotaStore.

The iotaWeekly – July 20-26, 2009

 

 

from Impossible Spaces Clip of the Week
Impossible Spaces (2008) by Sylvia Pengilly


Sylvia Pengilly is a retired professor of music theory, composition and electronic music who previously taught at Loyola University in New Orleans and currently resides in California. Her collaborations with musician Michael Rhoades yielded four of the works found on her DVD collection, Six Videos, available from The iotaStore here.Find out more about Sylvia Pengilly and her work at her website.
Site of the Week
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation ArchiveIn the heart of Burbank, ASIFA-Hollywood hosts the Animation Archive, “a museum, library and archive dealing with the subject of animation for the use of researchers, students, artists and the general public,” but if you can’t make it out to the physical space, the Animation Archive’s website is a smorgasbord of classic animated films and scanned original art from legendary animators and cartoonists.
Artist of the Week
Phil Solomon“Solomon has mastered the step-printer (a machine which permits precise, and if one wants, automated rephotography, reversal of the motion picture image, photography within the frame. It can be said of both him and (James) Herbert, then, that they proceed a frame at a time: there the similarity ends. Solomon disintegrates the entire pictorial ‘fabric’ (of what is mostly found-footage, or a ‘gift’ as he calls it) of old movies in various states of emulsion rot. He utilizes the organic mold and dry crack patterns, the natural decay of the footage, until the original subject matter, its anima, crawls with the textural ‘maggots’ of its own chemical decomposition and dissolves in a beautiful display of multi-faceted light.”–Stan Brakhage, “Time …on Dit,” Musicworks, 1995

The iotaWeekly – July 13-19, 2009

 

 

from Runa’s Spell Clip of the Week
Runa’s Spell (2007) by Stephanie Maxwell


Stephanie Maxwell has been creating stunningly beautiful and original experimental animation for over twenty years. As a film artist who specializes in hand painting and engraving directly onto the surface of 35mm film stock, Maxwell employs a wide variety of materials and tools, including paints, markers, bleach, stencils, engraving tools, airbrush and many more experimental techniques..The film can be found in its entirety along with thirteen other Maxwell films on Stephanie Maxwell: Animated Works, 1984-2007, a part of The iotaCenter’s Kinetica Video Library™, available for purchase here.

Learn more about the Kinetica Video Library™ here.
Kevin Geiger Site of the Week
Animation OptionsKevin Geiger, the President & CEO of Animation Options, LLC, hosts a site that is not only a storefront for his consulting firm, but also a launching pad for his insights, resources, and video presentations dealing with animation production. For any team or company, and even any individual, looking to create, produce, and distribute an animated film, both effectively and efficiently, the information Animation Options has to offer is worth looking into.

Speaking from years of experience in the animation industry and working with a wide array of clients, Keven Geiger has an incredible amount of expertise regarding the realities of producing animation that is applicable to both large and small scale projects.
New York Times Artist of the Week
Jeff Scher“Jeff Scher is a painter who makes experimental films and an experimental filmmaker who paints. His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the Hirshhorn Museum, and has been screened at the Guggenheim Museum, the Pompidou Center in Paris, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and at many film festivals around the world, including opening night at the New York Film Festival. Mr. Scher has also had two solo shows of his paintings, which have also been included in many group shows in New York galleries. Additionally, he has created commissioned work for HBO, HBO Family, PBS, the Sundance Channel and more. Mr. Scher teaches graduate courses at the School of Visual Arts and at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Kanbar Institute of Film & Television’s Animation program. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.”–The New York Times

Check out Scher’s work at his website.

The iotaWeekly – July 6-12, 2009

 

 

from Stele by Robert Darroll Clip of the Week
Stele (1996-1999) by Robert Darroll


Robert Darroll’s Stele is a striking example of a collage of cel, video and computer animation techniques that was featured in The iotaCenter’s 2002-2003 touring exhibition KINETICA 4.The film can be found in its entirety along with four other Darroll films on Robert Darroll: Digital Animations, 1990-2001, a part of The iotaCenter’s Kinetica Video Library,™ available for purchase here.

Learn more about the Kinetica Video Library™here.
Site of the Week
Quickdraw Animation Society“Celebrating 25 years as a nonprofit artist run society dedicated to the art of independent animation. The Quickdraw Animation Society supports and encourages the production of innovative independent animation and develops the appreciation of all types of animation as a viable artistic medium.”–Quickdraw Animation Society
Scott Snibbe Artist of the Week
Scott Snibbe“Scott Snibbe creates immersive interactive art that evokes powerful emotional and social engagement from viewers. His works are known for their positive social effects: fostering a sense of interdependence, promoting social interaction among strangers, and increasing viewers’ concentration. His artworks have been installed in over one hundred art museums, performance spaces, science museums and public spaces worldwide since 1995…

Snibbe was born in 1969 in New York City. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Fine Art, and a Master’s in Computer Science from Brown University. Snibbe studied experimental animation at the Rhode Island School of Design and his films have been widely shown internationally. He has taught media art and experimental film at Brown University, The San Francisco Art Institute, the California Institute of the Arts, The Rhode Island School of Design and UC Berkeley. Snibbe worked at Adobe Systems as a Computer Scientist where he made substantial contributions to the special effects software Adobe After Effects and research projects at Adobe Research. Snibbe held research positions at Interval Research where he performed basic research in haptics, computer vision and interactive cinema. Snibbe’s research is documented in a number of academic papers, and over a dozen patents.”–artist’s website

Check out Snibbe’s latest work at Scott Snibbe – Interactive Art.

The iotaWeekly – June 29-July 5, 2009

 

The iotaCenter introduces the first in a series called The iotaWeekly, a weekly email and blog entry of featured clips, artists and websites for the week. Stay tuned for more each week!

Wet Paint (1977) by Jules Engel Clip of the Week
Jules Engel: An Artist For All Seasons (2010) by Janeann Dill, PhD


Watch a clip from the documentary by Janeann Dill, PhD, a filmmaker and former student of the renowned artist, filmmaker, and educator Jules engel.An excerpt of the documentary can be found on the latest installment of The Kinetica Video Library™, Jules Engel: Selected Works, Volume I, available here.
Antonio Brech Site of the Week
The Official Site of Antonio BrechAntonio Brech (aka Jose Antonio Fernández Fernández) with the technical assistance of Fernando Federico Gonzáles Carmago has crafted an innovative and aesthetically beautiful website to feature his abstract animations and scholarship.

Antonio Brech received his BA in Psychology from Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. Since 1980, he has been a psychologist for the Spanish Ministry of Education and the Educational Council of Xunta de Galicia. Fernández is also a lecturer for courses on the education therapy, cultural, art and ethics in new technological environments. He is the director of psycho-sonographic workshops specializing in ecological immersion in intersensory stimulation. He is currently at work on his doctoral thesis entitled, “Inter-modal-ethics.”

Visit his official site here.
Chris Casady Artist of the Week
Chris CasadyChris Casady, known for his energetic abstract graphics and colorful Flash title sequences, has worked in motion picture effects, music videos and TV commercials from his studio in Los Angeles, CA. He has designed the opening for the American Film Institute’s L.A. International Film Festival and has won two Clio awards for previous work in animated commercials. He has directed animated music videos for the Beastie Boys as well as Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson.

A graduate of CalArts, Casady also creates personal films with a style reminiscent of masters like Oskar Fischinger and an energy both whimsical and forceful that have garnered international recognition. His early film Pencil Dance (1988) won top awards at international animation festivals in Canada, France, Japan and Italy upon its release and his recent Puddle Jumper (2007) was the Third Prize winner at the 2008 Punto y Raya Festival presented by MAD Actions and The iotaCenter. Check out Casady’s latest work at The Visual Music Village.

Sylvia Pengilly and Michael Rhoades’s SIX VIDEOS (2004-2008) – Available from The iotaStore

 

 The iotaCenter is proud to offer SIX VIDEOS (2004-2008) by Sylvia Pengilly and Michael Rhoades, a collection of Visual Music that “exemplify and intensify the relationship between what the ear hears and what the eye sees.” Pengilly’s “whirling, abstract images of amazing colors and shapes” is accompanied by Michael Rhoades’ music that was generated from the images of the video. “What is being heard is truly a representation of what is being seen.”

DVD – 49 minutes
Released – 2008

Purchase Sylvia Pengilly and Michael Rhoades’s SIX VIDEOS here.

“Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Story of Light Art” – Now available from The iotaCenter’s Store

 

 From the makers of the award-winning “Video Out: The Story of VJ’ing and Live Video Art” comes the 2007 documentary “Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Story of Light Art.”

This documentary by Paul Vlachos and Meredith Finkelstein provides a history of Thomas Wilfred’s life and career, vividly told through photographs, personal letters as well as interviews with audience members, acquaintances, and current practitioners of Lumia. The documentary also includes interviews with prominent Wilfred collector Eugene Epstein and touches upon other light-art pioneers, Mary Hallock Greenewalt and Charles Dockum.

“Lumia” was an official selection of the Avignon Film Festival, the Athens International Film Festival, and the Swansea International Film Festival.

Purchase “Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Story of Light Art”

George Stadnik’s THREE TIMES THREE: DIGITAL LUMIA 2006-2008

 

 Working within the tradition of Lumia with a modern digital twist, George Stadnik continues to create works of great beauty and scope. THREE TIMES THREE contains three of Stadnik’s recent films:

Shadow in Three (2008, silent, 20:18)
Untitled (2008, sound (“Elegy for Iraq” by Dr. Franklin Morris), 15:10)
Mirror Mirror (2006, Silent, 15:10)

Mad-Actions and The iotaCenter present “PUNTO Y RAYA 2009”

 

 The “most abstract festival in the world” launches its new call for entries open to short·films exploring the creative possibilites of the dot and the line. No figuration, no perspective, just dots and lines as ends in themselves! An amazing challenge to study and reflect upon the essence of form and movement. Can you take it?

No entry fee and the deadline is Monday August 17th, 2009.

Check out all the info at www.puntoyrayafestival.com.

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