Yes, speaking of the visual power of flipbooks, Ivan points out that Kraak and Smaak have just made a big splash with an ingenious new music video making surrealist plays with space. It uses copious, cleverly-placed flipbooks throughout. Now you have two challenges: one, to go out and make and film flipbooks, and two, to make it somehow not this but cool in some other way. (Hmmm… perhaps live flipbook VJing?)
It’s all real and real-time and, minus some subtle animation overlaid obviously at one point, it’s all flipbooks. The work is the creation of superelectricvideo, a director, motion graphic designer, video artist, illustrator, and general maker of cool things to look at based in the Netherlands. It’s worth reading his whole, oddly poetic bio, which matches some of the dry whimsy of his films:
these are the things i do.
i get parking tickets and annoyed.
the atom bomb and the bikini are powerful weapons.
i make video thru the use of all kinds of techniques,
computers obviously but i try to combine it with a more "human" feel.
drawings, cut out paper, stop motion, photography, anything goes.
by using color, shape and movement in relation to eachother and time
i try to create a piece that provokes communication of whatever kind.
if time wasn’t always such a stress factor i would actually love time
if it’s visible it is of interest to me and if it’s invisible
i am most likely just as interested.
i love my girlfriend, my 2 dogs and a good glass of old rum.
i spend my spare time drawing in a sketchbook or with a glass of old rum.
i believe music is one of the only true forms of magic left in this world.
in general, i can’t stand "isms", even though i like futurism and cubism
but not necessarily more than other forms of art.
i really admire the work of alexander calder and steward davis.
i love subtle movement and heavy contrasts, but not too obvious.
maybe this didn’t tell you anything or it could even be
too much information altogether,
however….
it’s safe to say, superelectric thinks life is lovely.
Hey, rum, dogs, girlfriends – I concur. Life is indeed lovely.
It’s well worth exploring his whole visual world, as there’s some fantastic stuff in there, like this video for the International Amsterdam Film Festival. Inspired by questions about global development and poverty, it chops up found public domain footage into a kind of virtual, kinetic sculpture. And the music comes from Friend of CDM musician i am robot and proud, recently seen exploring his Tenori-On. (Hope to interview him soon as I really love his music and he’s quite nearby.)
If this only inspires your visual appetite, be sure to check out:
superelectric’s impossible-to-navigate homepage
the colorful, illustration-laden Flickr stream
lots of other videos which, oddly, Kraak & Smaak fans seem to have ignored. Go give them some love.
Well, you know how I feel. Music is one of the the only true forms of magic left in this world, it’s true. Motion is another.