Returns and Travels

Back in Nantes after attending the fifth annual International Video Dance Festival of Burgundy (France) where my stop motion animation work was screened as part of a video collage in honour of the centennial of the Nijinsky/Stravinsky ballet "Le Sacre du Printemps" (or "Rite of Spring" as it is known in English), a seminal work that created a riot at the time of its first performance in Paris. The collage goes on to screenings at other international festivals later this month and afterward. Of course I was thrilled to be a part of this homage to one of my favourite historical dance works and the festival's strong selection of offerings ranged from otherworldly beauty to laugh out loud humour created by an international roster of artists in dance and video. It was a pleasure to be present in this stimulating environment with other creators and dance aficianados from France and countries as diverse as Mexico and Hungary.

April thus far has been an exciting month for me in the way of exhibitions, collaborations and new work--- I'll be sharing more later. However, whilst at the festival I did find time during the days to do a bit of hiking and I'd like to take you on a walk through one of the hilly Burgundian forests with its magical ambiance and quiet peace. Jagged moss draped stumps transform into faery forts or elfin creatures that start up on every side from the thick blanket of winter pale leaves. The trees possess miniature doorways at ground level and above, that could easily be taken for portals into other worlds. A rich variety of shelf fungus and tiny mushrooms crop up all around, suggesting the near presence of elemental beings or the equally mystical but clearly elegant interweavings of natural order. In the midst of an economically depressed region, the natural beauty here remains strong and inspiring, the evergreen woods full of bird song and the uplifting scent of pine, the green fields bedecked with wildflowers and gentle white Charolais cattle.

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Collage Animation

A trio of photos from a recent short film segment I created to celebrate the centennial of the riot provoking first performance of the Ballet Russe/Stravinsky work "Le Sacre du Printemps" (or "Rite of Spring" as it is sometimes known in English). As part of a larger collage of works by various choreographers/dancers/artists it will premiere at the International Video Dance Festival of Burgundy, France next month, after which I'll post a video here.

The puppets were created from vintage French art history magazines which my corner used bookshop sells for twenty centimes--- a steal for gorgeous full colour magazines on heavy stock! I always feel a bit guilty cutting them up but often find duplicates to keep for my own viewing pleasure. I mixed and matched parts from works ranging from Etruscan sculpture to medieval Spanish fresco to a Titian painting and added an actual hair extension braid to the central figure of "the chosen one" for a bit of variety. (The braid was fun to animate!).

All movements were still photographed one small motion at a time. Afterward all the many photos were altered in photoshop and an online editing program to create a more unique and encompassing  look to this 2D world. The final step was loading them into a video program and creating a continuous effect of movement with musical score.

Here's a link to some of my other earlier animations in 2 and 3D:
http://www.youtube.com/user/artemiscalliste/videos

I look forward to the coming of spring here and wish you all the best whatever the season, wherever you are!