Hasta La Motion!

This week, we have RE:PLAY films from Holbrooks, Physalia and Mixtape Club. Another great line-up of talented directors approaching the idea of happiness, joy and synchronicity in clever ways. We’ll let the artists speak for themselves…

MIXTAPE CLUB – “HELLO I LIKE YOU”

‘”When presented with the creative brief, we thought what better way to express our happiness than to distill the essence of our craft, to serve up a creamy shot of artistic espresso? So with this film, we’ve gone back to the basics: the simplest of inanimate objects, and transformed them into a tapestry of playful, choreographed dance for your enjoyment.

The goal here was simply to explore materials, themes, and techniques that have always made us happy – the things that drew us to this crazy art form in the first place. Like music. The whole process started with some simple visual experiments, and using those initial kernels as a starting point, we worked back and forth with our favorite tuneful youngsters, Huma-Huma, to develop the score for this piece. The music and the visuals evolved organically together, with each new version inspiring something in the other. We always find it particularly satisfying to develop the sound as part of the process itself.”

PHYSALIA – “INDUCTANCE”

“Inductance is the making-of for a piece that will never exist, a behind the scenes with no scenes! When faced with the challenge of creating a short under the theme of happiness, we first concluded with Gerardo del Hierro that whether the short was going to overtly address the theme or not, what we really wanted was to enjoy the process. We have always loved to share the making-of’s for our pieces, not only because we usually have fun developing tools that allow us to create them (sometimes in a very masochistic sort of way!) but because we understand as professionals that part of the enjoyment of watching a piece comes from finding out how the hell it was done.

The choice of the device to build came shortly after, spurred by some painful trial-error process and being the colour balls from the F5 logo the last inspiration spark we needed. The video is a document of how the happiest machine Physalia has built to date came to exist.”

HOLBROOKS – “VELO CEREBRUM”

“We wanted to take a dry look at the subject of happiness. To strip down the aesthetics of a smile, literally tearing skin from flesh, flesh from bone, bone cracking away. We wanted to expose the brain and let it reveal the spirituality and enigma of happiness. Of a simple action that makes this person happy in a way that they’d find hard to describe.”

Posted on Motionographer

Got ya and it’s not even April Fool’s yet. 🙂 The scale has been ‘tipped’ and we’ve sold out our early tickets.

What’s surprising is the response from other creative communities; not only have the motionographers come out in support, but there’s also been an unprecedented response from creatives in fashion, fine art, publishing… even pharmaceutical marketing. You all share the desire to break out of this harsh winter and start the spring anew. Happy.

Regular tickets are now available at the price of $480; student tickets at a reduced rate of $280. These prices will remain until the end of the festival.

Tune in next week for another announcement—this time about what’s surely on everyone’s minds…

Posted on Motionographer

I’ve been saying all along that F5 will be full of creative collisions—moments of lasting insight and inspiration that occur when you venture outside your comfort zone and smash into something unexpected.

That’s exactly why I’m so excited to announce the final two speakers in F5’s already eclectic lineup: Rachel Maddow and Charlie White.

RACHEL MADDOW

If you’re at all politically inclined, you’ve at least heard of Rachel Maddow. You probably know that The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC has been a stellar success, dethroning Larry King at the same time slot and sending a much-needed thrill through the world of cable news.

But I think the best introduction to Rachel comes from her official site:

Rachel has a doctorate in political science (she was a Rhodes Scholar) and a background in HIV/AIDS activism and prison reform. She shakes a mean cocktail, drives a bright red pickup, hates Coldplay, loves arguing with conservatives, spends a lot of money on AMTRAK tickets, and dresses like a first-grader.

Rachel is a maverick of the highest caliber. And that makes her a friend of F5.

CHARLIE WHITE

And now for something completely different. Over the last decade Charlie White has created some of the most arresting and trenchant images in contemporary photography.

Through an extensive process that entails casting actors, creating characters, and building sets to construct scenes both disturbing and familiar, Charlie dissects the violence, desires, and social anxieties that trouble the American collective unconscious.

In 2008 White exhibited Girl Studies, a series comprised of a 35mm short film titled American Minor, an experimental animation titled OMG BFF LOL, and a series of new photographs that move away from the use of the tableau and the fictional narrative.

Girl Studies is the culmination of three years of research and production that expands far beyond the works exhibited. The series marks the broadest range in White’s practice to date and further evolves his specifically American cultural critique.

Check out the full lineup of F5’s speakers on the Speakers page.

Posted on Motionographer

Rachel Maddow and Charlie White to Present at F5