RIC's Festival of Contemporary Animation

Rhode Island College is presenting a Festival of Contemporary Animation as part of the year’s Spring Celebration of the Arts presentation. The two-night event in the Nazarian Center’s Sapinsley Hall will feature recent animated films by regional and international artists.

April 17, at 7pm: International Program
April 18 2009, at 7pm: Four New England Animators

Free admission

Rhode Island College
"Festival of Contemporary Animation"
The Nazarian Center Bldg 15
600 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI
map link

The festival kicks off on Friday, April 17, with the International Program. The two-hour screening begins at 7 p.m. with a 45-minute selection of the “best of” the Ottawa Animation Festival 2008 – one of the top animation festivals in the world.

The second half of the international program will showcase the festival curators’ picks, including the charcoal drawings that come to life in Automatic Writing by renowned South African artist William Kentridge; the surreal tale of Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor by Academy Award-winning Japanese animator Koji Yamamura; a psychedelic mash-up of Rambo in Untitled (Pink Dot) by digital artist Takeshi Murata; a hand-drawn and cut-out animation titled How She Slept at Night by the Chicago-based comic artist Lilli Carre; and the poignant, sometimes shocking, line drawings of British artist David Shrigley in Who I Am and What I Want.



On Saturday, April 18, starting at 7 p.m., audiences will get an in-depth look at the work of four award-winning animators from New England, who will show short films and discuss excerpts from their work. The animators are Jo Dery, RIC film instructor and artist known for her expressive paper-cut style of animation; Dan Sousa, a RISD professor who uses a combination of drawing, etching, painting, and computer programs to animate dream-like fables; Lorelei Pepi, whose work includes experimental and traditional animation styles; and Nancy Andrews who combines drawn animation, live-action and puppetry.

The Festival of Contemporary Animation is organized by the Film Studies Program and curated by Maya Allison and Jo Dery. Allison is a curator of moving image-based art, and director of the 5 Traverse Gallery in Providence. Dery is an animation artist and curator of past Magic Lantern experimental film series at the Cable Car Cinema in Providence.

The Spring Celebration of the Arts is sponsored by the Performing and Fine Arts Commission at Rhode Island College

Free admission!

Datamosh

Some 1970's video-phreaks that love the Grass Valley Switcher and all that might say "been there, done that" when they look at graphic artist, Bob aka Ray Tintori, who has done datamosh videos. Datamoshing squishes and strangles up his music video Evident Utensil for the band Chairlift.

What IS datamosh? When digital video is compressed, there can be artifacts that are generated and passed on to the subsequent frames based on the style of compression you choose and your editing/compressing program. BOB will give you the full secrets, the downloadable CODE and a 3-sequence youtube demo on how to. When you're man-handling the identity of progressive versus interlaced data lines and keyframes you have data-bits gone wild and not knowing where they live. Thus, datamosh.

Multi-Touch Interactive for iPhone

MSA Remote is a brilliantly useful app designed for the iPhone by artist/musician Memo Atken. Except that Apple doesn't think so, and that means that you won't be seeing it in the Apple store. But everyone else thinks that it's an EXCITING tool for artist playtime, including myself! See his demo here. Also, check out his Body Paint interactive installation, which is quite stunning.




MSA Remote for iPhone from Memo Akten on Vimeo.

QR Code World

Are Aliens text messaging us? No! It's a Data Matrix Code that says "Hello World!" done as a landscape installation by artist Bernd Hopfengärtner as a tribute to C-Code programmer Brian Kernighan. And if you have a software on your cell phone that can read Data Matrix Code, you'll be able to read this programmer's classic "secret message."

The code we Americans are most familiar with is the standard Barcode (left). The series of lines with varying widths and order provide decoded information when scanned, like price and product info at the grocery store. Merchants have been using this system for a long time. It's a 2D visual language, of sorts.



This QR Code (right) is the information for my personal website, FuelaFireStudio.com. QR Code (QR stands for quick read) was created in 1994 (looooong ago!) by Japanese company Denso Wave and is interesting because it has created something of a cult following by artists and merchants alike. You can make your own at winksite.com.

The way to read this visual language code requires that you have a software on your computer or cell phone that can translate code information. You hold your cell camera up to the QR Code, and the system loads the code information. It may be a website, a phone number, a download link, coupons, or even secret love messages (maybe.)

Here's a funny little Japanese TV ad from NTT DoCoMo, and it shows how to use the QR Code in a movie poster.



Where Can you Get the Software?
My cell app creates a link for me to go to that URL that I just scanned. I have a T-Mobile G1 phone and there are at least 3 software apps that I can choose- I use ixMat. Have an iPhone? Check out 2DSense.com. You can check out the reader at Kawaya.com to see if it will work on your phone.

The company 2DSense has created the sofware for the iPhone, and has added some creative proprietary code to the pile. The Blotcode and the Shotcode are their inventions.


Japanese Company DesignQR is adding "super-cute" factor by embedding still imagery into the code.


Some other creative QR Code uses:

1) Advertising in Japan, where a movie poster may have a QR Code, and a passer-by can take a scan of it and the cell phone will take them to the movie website and offer downloads of movie music or images.


2) Tourist information- a series of installed QR Codes provide location information.



3) Japanese gravestones!
The company Ishinokoe (or “voice of stone”) announced that they will begin offering tombstones with a unique Design QR code. The package will allow visitors to access a dedicated mobile site, complete with life history and photos etc., of the deceased. They also note that for the sake of privacy only people with a key, family members, will be able to open the chamber door in order to scan the data.




4) Rebellious insurrection: Pet Shop Boys music video (hmmmm...) for their new song "Love etc." This mv is using ANIMATION! of hi-contrast imagery including QR Code to protest the increased police-state surveillance of city life by using the QR as embedded secret code throughout the mv. The QR code is found in the animation. The codes are quick, and you'll have to have to pause at the exact frame in order to be able to get a scan of them.

5) your own Japanese music video and instant QR code so you can show your friends how cute your style is...

6) clothing- like this fab Alien Invader Scarf by Lendorf.Kaywa.

7) tattoos!















8) food promos- like this promotional code printed with dye extract from tamarind seeds onto a yummy shrimp cracker (found at pinktentacle.com.)

Wii Whiteboard

Johnny Lee, while a PhD at Carnegie Mellon, came up with some pretty cool ideas for the Wii. The Interactive Whiteboard is one of those exciting projects that will make your head explode when you think about the possibilities for modding it into other cool uses. One of my students used it to create an interactive Flash animation.



And here's where you can download the Mac version of Johnny's software, which is www.uweschmidt.org

New York Spawned a Monster

New York Spawned a Monster: The Animation of Ben Levin and Patrick Smith
23 February 2009

Join the animation filmmakers on Friday, February 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Space 242!

Patrick Smith's animated oddities parallel our lives in innovative ways. Watch a destructive sock puppet take over its creator in "Puppet." In "Handshake," an innocent greeting between two people transforms into a struggle. See a boy imbibe a potion that allows him to explore the universe within himself in "Drink" and much more.

Ben Levin's hilarious animations address topics such as modern love, movies, role playing games and Republicans run amok. We're featuring titles such as the "GOP PSA" series, the "Ronin Dojo Community College DX: The Digital Pirates of Dark Water Saga," "H.P. Papercraft," "She She She She's A Bombshell," and more.

The animators will be in attendance. They will also be participating in a Q&A the next day, Saturday, 2/28 at noon (same location). Don't miss this!
RSVP is required for attendance. email anna@bostonunderground.org

SPACE 242 is located in Boston's South End at 242 East Berkeley Street, 2nd floor, between Albany Street and Harrison Avenue in Boston (The Medieval Manor Building). It is accessible via the MBTA Silver Line: E. Berkeley Street; Red Line: Broadway Station; Orange Line: Back Bay Station; and Green Line: Arlington Street Station. Street parkingis available on E. Berkeley Street. See a MAP.

Starting Your Own Micro-Art-Business

Want to officially start your own "sole proprietor" small business as an animation artist? A jewelry designer? Graphic artist? Something else? Well, here are some easy steps to take to officially get the ball rolling. These tips are generated from an interview by RISD president John Maeda of the Providence Chamber of Commerce Laurie White asking her how to get RISD students started with an “ultra-light” creative business in Providence, RI. Laurie said she could do it in 59 seconds, and although they went a little bit over you can see how simple it really is.

Starting in Rhode Island:

1. Register your biz at City Hall at www.providenceri.com.
2. Contact www.tax.ri.gov to get your State Tax application.
3. Get your federal tax ID number www.irs.gov.
4. Get some biz insurance at www.provchamber.com.

Starting in Massachusetts:

1. Register your biz at City Hall at www.cityofboston.gov.
2. Contact www.mass.gov to get your State Tax application.
3. Get your federal tax ID number www.irs.gov.
4. Get some biz insurance at www.bostonchamber.com

You can watch the interview here.


How to Start a Business in Providence for RISD folks from John Maeda on Vimeo.

David Polonsky at RISD and Brown

David Polonsky, Art Director of Waltz with Bashir will be an artist-in-residence on the RISD and Brown campuses for spring semester, from February 9 – May 1, 2009. The Brown University / Rhode Island School of Design Hillel has arranged Polonsky's residency, and are coordinating the events.

The movie has received numerous awards including the Golden Globe Award for best foreign language film, the top prize at the Cannes film festival, and the Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics.


Scheduled Events that are open to the public:

Screening of Waltz with Bashir, the Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film
Followed by Q & A with Art Director, David Polonsky
Wednesday, February 18, 5:00 PM
Avon Cinema, 260 Thayer Street
Free admission with a student ID ($5 for non-students)
Hosted by Brown Israeli Film Festival and Ivy Film Festival


Gallery Exhibition: Imaginative Worlds - Book Illustrations by David Polonsky
Opening Reception and Artist Talk
Thursday, March 12, 7:00 - 9:00 PM
On Exhibition from March 12th - 26th
Brown RISD Hillel, 80 Brown Street
Hosted by Brown RISD Hillel Gallery Project, Brown Creative Arts Council, and the RISD Student Gallery Board


From Film to Graphic Novel: David Polonsky Book signing following the lecture
Thursday, March 19, 7:00 PM
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
20 North Main Street, Providence
$8 non-Museum-members, contact Arttix at 401-621-6123 or www.arttixri.com;
free tickets for Museum members by contacting Deb Clemons at dclemons@risd.edu
For directions: www.risdmuseum.org

Do It Yourself in MA

It's always exciting when you find a new favorite toy store. If you're looking for that store, and a fun-filled treasure hunt, run out to the Do It Yourself Electronics store in Needham, MA. Do it today, because they've got a super President's Day Sale going on! Stock up on parts, kits, and the DIY Pocket Protector (back by popular demand.)

Americans for the Arts

Americans for the ArtsACTION ALERT: During their consideration of the Economic Recovery bill, the Senate approved an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that prohibits funding for "...museums, theaters and arts centers..." This amendment, approved by a vote of 73-24, if included in the final version of this legislation would prevent the economic recovery funding from supporting these areas of the non-profit arts community. Americans for the Arts has a wonderful online tool that allows you to easily contact and message your representatives. Help advocate for the arts! Read more updates on Arts Funding from Americans for the Arts.

PLEASE have all of your friends, relatives, co-workers, family and more TELL their Senators that the Arts are important.

Public Knowledge has added a tool to their site that allows you to send a letter to Congress discouraging them from allowing controversial "copyright filtering" language to the stimulus package in closed-door conference meetings. You can use the tool here and learn more about the language and why it's controversial here.

|article via NAMAC|

What is drawing?

What is drawing? The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka, Croatia has has been asking this question in the International Exhibition of Drawings ever since 1968. Now, forty years after the first exhibition, drawing is accompanied by animated films. So again, what is drawing? The Rijeka has come forth with that "drawing is a graphic depiction of forms, exercised on any surface". But what about that elusive definition of the movement that is animation? The actual movement is not the still image or the individual image, but what happens when multiple, sequential images exist together... Norman McLaren in his ever thoughtful way supposes that animation is more acutely the invisible space that exists between the drawings.

In his own words:; "Animation is not art of a drawing that moves but art of movements that are being drawn. That which happens between each photogram is more important than that which is in it. Animation is, therefore, art of manipulating the invisible spaces that lay between photographs". McLaren's definition of animated film is a starting point from which we move into exploring everything that animated film and drawing are.

The films that have been selected are naturally those that utilize the traditional technique of hand drawing to create the animated film. The films are the kind of authorial films that can mostly be seen only at film festivals. The reason for this would be that these films are made by individual artists creating their own artistic work as opposed to strictly commercial productions. This lends a weight and credence to the artistic nature as well as to the skill of the film and filmmaker.

What an exciting way to engage the question, the act, the existence of drawing(s)! The Exhibition has included drawings from films, visits and lectures by filmmakers, workshops and of course screenings.

Exhibition Dates: Dec 4, 2008 - Feb 17, 2009

These filmmakers / films are included:

1. Atushi Wada – DAY OF NOSE
2. JJ Villard – SON OF SATAN
3. Izibene Oñederra – HEZURBELTZAK, A COMMONE GRAVE
4. Michaela Pavlátová – CARNIVAL OF ANIMALS
5. Simone Massi – LA MEMORIA DEI CANI
6. Igor Kovalyov – MILCH
7. Priit Pärn – KARL AND MERILYN
8. Andreas Hykade – THE RUNT
9. Elizabeth Hobbs – THE TRUE STORY OF SAWNEY BEANE
10. Igor Ćorić – LEFTOVERS
11. Koji Yamamura FRANZ KAFKA'S A COUNTRY DOCTOR
12. Thomas Hicks – I TURN MY FACE TO THE FOREST FLOOR
13. Daniel Šuljić – FILM S DJEVOJČICOM
14. Paul Driessen – 3 MISSES

Animation Integration

I teach a course entitled "Animation Integration" at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA. The course explores uses of animation that are non-traditional and not explicitly cinematic in their purpose and packaging. An example are these motorized thaumatrope machines that everyone made last week.

The one on the left is the word "HELLO" broken into graphic partial shape, and the other side of the card has the remaining portions of the text. Once the motor begins spinning at full speed, the thaumatrope effect optically blends both sides so you see the word "HELLO" in complete form. Hopefully we'll be getting videos of the work in action too.

If you're interested in seeing what we do along the way, follow our SMFA Animation Blog!

Why Republicans Are Stupid

Evangelical blowhard Pat Robertson and other Republican right-wingers are giddily amused over Obama's national stimulus package including money for CONDOMS. It would appear that they can't quite understand WHY providing options for CONTRACEPTION and FAMILY PLANNING are VERY SMART IDEAS that affect PEOPLE and the ECONOMY. The reinstatement of US financial support for Mexico's family planning clinics is a brilliant example of the plan, which I bet that dumbass Robertson is equally upset about, but he at least understands why. Sometimes I want to kick in my tv.