If I have not made it plain before, let me be frank: I harbor a small amount of disdain for “performance art”. And by that I mean that while there is a very large proportion of awful, vapid “fine art” displayed in various galleries, warehouses, and coffee shops around the world, it seems to me that there is a much greater percentage of bad performance art; a statistic that I maintain is due to the intrinsic nature of such exercises. It invariably strikes me as a person or persons doing something absurd and then providing a pretentious, long-winded dissertation on the aforementioned act.

Of course this may also be a case of my own, limited understanding of the milieu. I was once highly critical of a piece I saw entitled The Creation which I later learned was not performance art at all but was, in fact, just a homeless man defecating behind some garbage bins in what he had assumed was privacy. This was, I now realize, the reason for the foul language and remonstrations he directed at me and not some sort of Brechtian trope as I had first assumed.

That said, there is something about this piece by French artist Olivier de Sagazan entitled Return to Close. Featuring a strange graph-like background, some clay, paint, and wool, de Sagazan proceeds to mold and remold a variety of inhuman visages upon his own. It is by turns creepy and humorous. At its heart though it is a fairly basic practice, this modeling and manipulation of one’s features. If anything it is merely a continuance of the childhood activity of fashioning a shampoo mohawk in the bath; only now laden with weighty exposition.

performance O de Sagazan 08 [YouTube] : Coilhouse : Artist’s Site

A miracle! My iPod, shuddering, lurching, dead-pixelled hand-me-down monster that it is, coughed this up during a shuffle. I was enthralled from the very first samurai-guttural French utterance, and pushed it onto my DJ friends. It’s now in regular rotation at certain SF clubs. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Tao A. Hansen writes:

I’ve become absolutely obsessed with Tecktonik dancing since Eliza’s posting. It’s still obviously a work in progress, individually colored by the dancers but there’s a lot to like here.

I think Lektra’s (the girl in the “Best of” video) take on it is not only highly imaginative but absolutely stunning. I’m already formulating some sort of plan to visit France (my aunt already lives there) and see what I can do to learn it for myself.

Anyway, thank you for the post Eliza, although unintentional, it has inspired me to take dancing far more seriously than the private enterprise I considered it before.

This is probably the first and last time we’ll hear of Ectomo changing any lives. We’ve touched plenty of you, sure, but you wouldn’t remember that.

Good fortune to Tao, and anything to be of service.

Seemingly sprung from a single video depicting a French teenager having a seizure in his basement, dance movement Tecktonik has taken root in Euroyouth. They love sneakers, shitty hair, neon clothes, and busting moves absolutely everywhere. The irony here is so recursive, that even trying to puzzle out where to draw the line between “cool” and “stupid” is giving me hives.

A slightly different format this weekend. Oscar nominations have been announced and while the pithy award show is as much an indication of cinematic excellence as one of Eliza’s massive bowel movements, it does draw attention to films that may otherwise have gone unnoticed. With that in mind Ectomo presents the nominations for Best Short Animated Film. Hit the jump for enough embedded video to make your browser weep.

Continue Reading…

• Christopher Robbin crept out from the shelter of the hundred acre wood to remind us of this cinematic abortion

• Ed Eck sends presidential missives involving moustaches and massive bathtubs

• Ninja-bot proceeds to kick out the jams with a bevy colored Octobees. Send us your submissions for glittering prizes!

• Will we never be free of the disturbingly sensual Orangina Octopus? Le Roi’s sucker mark laden tip indicates not.

• Dominic reminds us of the dangers of drug use with comics

• Concerned with the results in Iowa, Tim correctly points out that there is only one real choice for president

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Mutter Museum [Thanks, Steve!]