MoMA NY, Drawing and Animation

On Line: Drawing and Film

January 12–February 6, 2011

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In conjunction with the exhibition On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century

On Line: Drawing and Film, held in conjunction with the gallery exhibition On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century, presents films from MoMA’s collection by artists whose work redefines the very parameters of drawing through an investigation of the line, both static and kinetic.

The intersection between the world and the line, both as a visual element and a rich metaphor for life, can be found in numerous films, from the dawn of cinema in the late 19th century to the present. Early animation—a film technique that springs directly from the medium of drawing—succeeded in the activation of the drawn line, as in Winsor McKay’s Gertie, the Dinosaur (1914). Despite subsequent technical advances, many artists have chosen to continue to reveal the connection between drawing and film; they paint, scratch, and manipulate the physical material of film to create abstract lines and patterns, which sometimes stand alone as moving drawings. In other films, these drawn lines are forced into the cinematic world created by the filmmaker, as an active backdrop for artistic intervention. Then there are films in which the line functions symbolically, referring to the various trajectories of the world at large through spiritual and physical travel, such as Bill Morrison’s Night Highway (1990). The passage of time, the marks left in our landscape, and lines drawn to both join and separate us from each other simultaneously provoke fascination and repulsion, as in A Season Outside (1998) by Amar Kanwar. The manipulation of line as cinematic subject was often inspired by the movement of the body, as in Circles I (1971)—a dance film by Doris Chase—and the syncopated, choreographed abstract imagery of Mary Ellen Bute’s Tarantella (1940). Contemporaneously, the transformation of the line (or a crossing of multiple lines to form a grid) injects the limits of the exterior world into the interior of the work of art. The first wave of computer generated films, especially those made at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, in the early 1960s—such as Computer Generated Ballet (c.1965) by researcher A. Michael Noll—explores the subject of “dancers” on a computer grid.

This exhibition includes films by Yann Beauvais (French, b. 1953), Stan Brakhage (American, 1933–2003), Robert Breer (American, b. 1926), Mary Ellen Bute (American, 1906–1983), Doris Chase (American, 1923–2008), Jim Capobianco (American, b. 1969), Walt Disney (American, 1901–1966), Ed Emshwiller (American, 1925–1990), valie export (Austrian, b. 1940), Harun Farocki (German, b. Czechoslovakia 1944), Emily Hubley (American, b. 1958), Amar Kanwar (Indian, b. 1964), Bernard Longpre (Canadian, 1937–2002), Len Lye (New Zealander, 1901–1980), Norman McLaren (Canadian, b. Scotland 1914–1987), Bill Morrison (American, b. 1965), David Piel (American, 1926–2004), Yvonne Rainer (American, b. 1934), Randy Rotheisler (Canadian, b. 1953), Carolee Schneemann (American, b. 1939), Zdenek Smetana (Czech, b. 1925), Stuart Sherman (American, 1945–2001), Alia Syed (British, b. 1964), and Steven Yazzie (American, b. 1970).

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Organized by Anne Morra, Associate Curator, Department of Film, and Esther Adler, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Drawings.

The Automatic Moving Company: An Exploration of Anthropomorphism

While watching The Automatic Moving Company, an animation by Émile Cohl circa 1910, I was immediately reminded of the anthropomorphism found in contemporary artists' work such as Peter Fischli's and David Weiss' The Way Things Go. The main connection was Cohl's utilization of anthropomorphism as a means of creating relationships between the chairs, tables, stools and varied furnishings. The whimsy and fantastical tendencies of this animation are only enhanced by the discovery that these objects are all miniatures of a real world where they would be characterized not by their ability to move, but to be still and stagnant--existing within the banal and mundane. It is because these delightful furnishings have character that we watch and are intrigued, despite that in our lives they exist as static structures that we rarely give a second thought.


|| Post by: Stephanie Clark ||

Eye Touch: Hand Held Entertainment

The animated image has had an expansive progression that continues to ride the current of technology. With all of its advancements it remains eerily similar to its distant counterparts the Magic Lantern.

Its interesting to note that the device that enables the luxury of animation has had an equally steady evolution. The animation itself separated from the device with the advancements of projection leaving the poor device to begin to be unseen and hidden. However these early animation devices where hand held.

A source of portable entertainment that was to be handled is an aesthetic challenge that circumnavigated itself with a wave of technologic breakthroughs. Its strange to think of the ancestral origins of the current human fascination with handheld media and technologies.

( > @* . *@)> Tim

Max Hattler:: Graphics-/-Animation Media Artist

a/v: '/\/\/\' (by Max Hattler + Noriko Okaku) from Max Hattler on Vimeo.

Fredrikstad Animation Festival-commissioned live animation performance feat. a soundtrack by Rich Keyworth. Premiered at Fredrikstad Animation Festival, Norway, 12 Nov 2009.

Aanaatt - Teaser (by Max Hattler) from Max Hattler on Vimeo.

"Max Hattler turns his talents for abstract animation to stop motion and comes up with this intriguing exercise in upside-down random geometry for Japanese electronica artist Jemapur thru W+K Tokyo Lab." FEED (Stash)

maxhattler.com

||post by Lorelei||

Emile Reynaud, and the First Motion Picture

Scene from 'Pauvre Pierrot'

When you first hear the words “Early Cartoon” the first thing that may come to mind might be a fluent, black and white, slapstick, comical animation. But in the beginning, before Bugs Bunny, Merry Melodies, or even Mickey Mouse, the word “Animation” revolved around a single device, Le Théatre Optique.  Devised by French inventor, and showman, Emile Reynaud, Le Théatre Optique was an update of his earlier invention, the Praxinoscope, which was an early motion animation device. Le Théatre Optique, like the Praxinoscope, had mirrors in the center, and would reflect the images of cartoon characters in a specific motion to create the illusion of movement. But instead of the images being on a wheel, like the Praxinoscope, the images were painted on spools of transparent film, which would be slid in front of the mirrors, giving the animation the ability to show a whole array of positions and movements instead of just one cycle (like the Praxinoscope could only show). At the same time there were a series of extra mirrors and Magic Lanterns (early projectors) placed throughout the device. After shining a light through the film, the image would be reflected off a series of mirrors and then be projected on to a screen. The end result would be a short, slightly choppy, motion picture. This machine was patented in 1888, and was revealed to the public in 1892, where Reynaud unveiled the first animated shorts ever to be seen by average people. The first of these motion pictures was ‘Pauvre Pierrot’, a five minute short portraying a Lady, with two lovers in competition with each other to win her heart. The motion picture was accompanied by piano music by composer Gaston Paulin, and poster artist, Jules Cheret, painted the images in the film. The presentation officially closed on March 1, 1894, and reopened in January 1, 1895 where new motion pictures were shown and thus continued to amaze the audience. 

My source was http://www.victorian-cinema.net/reynaud.htm

Image was from http://www.montrealmirror.com

-Jon

Emile Cohl - The Hasher's Delirium (1910)

When I first watched this short animation I believed that it was a piece of propaganda against the dangers of wine and absinthe. Although, the man who appears to be in a middle of some sort of dissociative dream state seems to be enjoying the occasionally grotesque images. These images can represent some of the more base aspects of being drunk. The quick and simple morphs are charming where words like wine and absinthe transform into the objects that are associated with their creation. Wine to a bunch of grapes and absinthe to a worm for wormwood. The film ends when the man is ripped from his own stupor into reality. Where his own body tells him that he has had too much to drink in a slap stick manner. After a serious bender one does feel like they have been beat up. I'm still waffling on whether this is a pro recreational use of libations or a cautionary tale. Still it is entertaining and it is amazing that 100 years later anyone can view this short in the comfort of home.

-Ben

Little Nemo

Winsor McCay's comic about a young boy named Nemo was introduced in 1905. The original title was Little Nemo in Slumberland, but was changed later to In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, when it was picked up by a different newspaper.
The story followed the adventures of Nemo in the dream world of Slumberland. Often Nemo would find himself in dangerous and even life threatening situations, but always woke up in his bed before anything should happen to him.
McCay, along with James Stuart Blackton, created a short animation based on the comic strip in 1911. Later, in 1989, director Masami and Masanori Hata, along with William T. Hurtz, made a feature animated film loosely based on McCay's comics. The film was first released in Japan in 1989. Then in the US in 1992. The film was not well received by viewers and considered a box office flop, despite getting positive reviews from several papers. The film is beautifully done and has a wonderful storyline. I highly recommend it.

|-Kelly-|

What's a kineograph??

Turns out flip books are nothing new. In fact, the flip book much as we know it today appeared in 1868. An English lithograph printer, named John Barnes Linnett, registered a patent for his invention under the name kineograph ("moving picture"). In German, the flip book is known by the name "Daumenkino," which translates to "thumb cinema," which describes the flip book's use rather well. The many pictures, flipped quickly, relies on the persistence of vision, to create the illusion of an ongoing scene. Plateau had pioneered this ground earlier when he developed the phenakistoscope, a predecessor of the flip book, in 1830. However, the flip book marks a significant milestone in the development of animation in making it more accessible and handy (no pun intended).

--post by Erik

more thoughts on McCay

I watched a few of McCay's cartoons again to day. I can just imagine how they must have amazed audiences back then. After taking Animation 1 I can appreciate what went into them. The way he got figures to turn and tails to switch so smoothly. He must have studied creatures large and tiny to get the movement so accurately. People must have been blown away to see those lines come to life on the screen.

Post by Luke

INSTALLATION: Chiho Aoshima: City Glow

Courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles. © 2005 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Museum of Moving Images, Queens, NY

City Glow was made by Japanese artist Chiho Aoshima in collaboration with New Zealand-based animator Bruce Ferguson. Using a pictorial style derived from traditional and pop sources (Japanese scroll paintings, manga, and anime), City Glow contains a cyclical narrative, which begins with the dawn of a paradisaical garden. Living skyscrapers sprout during the day, only to be overgrown at night by a landscape filled with ghosts and fairies. Chiho Aoshima, born in 1974 in Tokyo, is a member of Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki Collective. (text via the Museum of Moving Images)

WEBSITE LINK

EXHIBITION
DATE: January 15-April 10
LOCATION:
35 Avenue at 37 Street
Astoria, NY 11106
718 777 6888
HOURS:
Tue-Thu: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fri: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sat-Sun: 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Mon: Closed

EXHIBITION: Dolls Vs Dictators

The Museum of the Moving Image, located in Queens NY, asked animation filmmaker Martha Colburn to come in to the Museum and create an "animation film response" to their eclectic collection of historical works and artifacts. Colburn's high energy collage / cut-out film style should work particularly well with such a great variety of imagery.

Colburn elected to make a film using the photographs of the Museum’s collection of dolls, toys, and miscellanea. The film, Dolls vs. Dictators, is projected continuously in the Video Screening Amphitheater at the Museum. Eight tableaus each corresponding to a scene in the film, are also exhibited.

Martha Colburn is a filmmaker, animator, and multimedia artist who employs a variety of techniques, including puppetry, collage, and paint-on-glass. Many of her works address American history and its relationship to contemporary foreign and domestic policy. Colburn has also directed numerous music videos and has taught workshops on her animation techniques throughout the world. " (quote via the Museum of Moving Image website)

WEBSITE LINK

EXHIBITION
DATE: January 15-April 10
LOCATION:
35 Avenue at 37 Street
Astoria, NY 11106
718 777 6888
HOURS:
Tue-Thu: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fri: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sat-Sun: 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Mon: Closed

Windsor McCay

Image Source
Research from: http://www.vegalleries.com/winsorbio.html

One person from class today that I found particularly interesting was Windsor McCay. In doing some research on him I found out that his father had originally intended for him to be a business man, and that is what he went to college for. He always loved drawing, though, and secretly worked a s a portrait artist in a "dime museum"(where audiences could enjoy skits and acts of all sorts) on the side. Upon leaving school, he got a job at the National Printing Company of Chicago, where he created promotional posters. After creating a variety of posters and ads, and working as a billboard painter, he moved on to create a few very successful comic strips for papers such as the New York Herald and the Cincinatti Commercial Tribune. It was here that he began his real career as a cartoonist. He went on to create multiple successful films and strips until he died in 1934 due to a stroke.

Post By Luke