Everyone is, no doubt, well aware of just how important an award is in advertising but the full weight of such an honor may not be entirely apparent. Maximilian Villivankk is here to correct that oversight, because Maximilian Villivankk understands awards in a way that you never could. He is privy to the many hidden facets of the award-winner’s lifestyle. Facets that include sexy friends, bow-ties, and gold Speedos. Truly an illuminating lecture. All brought to you by director Jim Hosking in the grand tradition of David Lynch.
Having taken a short sabbatical from the tubes it is good to rediscover them. Often I have found that the internet becomes something of a perverse, personal litmus test for me, a private game of one-upmanship between me and myself comprising a back and forth of “You think that’s twisted, take a look at this!”; and while this game is fine for a while it gets old quickly. Before long your mind becomes one big callous, a mass of dead, scarred neurons impervious to all but the most horrid of visions, and by the time you realize what the sparse growth on your face signifies it’s too late and you’ve become Warren Ellis. At which point what else is there, really?
It was nice then to find this Flickr group whose sole purpose is to bring the world of Gary Larson to life. The Far Side was one of my favorite comic strips as a child. His surreal world was ceaselessly amusing to my young mind and, simultaneously, there was something about “getting” a Larson strip that made me feel wise beyond my years. It also ignited in me a passion for writing small, absurd vignettes for photographs, a device I often employ to help myself write and which I have subjected you poor Ectomites to on various occasions. All in all, a fitting way to come back.
Everything good about MTV lives in a world that exists, long since passed, in the memories of those who were there called “Remember When”. It’s a world where Music Television was actually music, on television and where the newest and craziest in modern animation was shown on something called Liquid Television accompanied by shows like Beavis and Butthead, Aeon Flux, The Head, and The Maxx. It is a place that many look back on with great fondness with good reason.
My relationship with MTV was not immediate. It was instead something that I had to acquire through a middleman, my family not having cable. It was something that I could only watch whilst visiting a friend or, in the case of The Maxx and Aeon Flux, by having it taped by my friend Will. It was a weekly ritual, the same VHS cassette exchanged back and forth, previous episodes taped over to make room for my fix. If I had more foresight, I would have no doubt bought extra cassettes so a to preserve the series but, alas, I was not the forward thinking in my youth.
The Maxx remains a show that, upon repeated viewings all these years later, has lost none of its impact. It still works, at least for me. Surely, it can be argued that, in its abbreviated form, it is lacking in comparison to the comic book that spawned it, and there is some truth there. The relationships that tie all of these wounded characters together are explored far less here, especially the relationship between Julie and the titular hero. This can be forgiven though, no television series could have really handled Sam Keith’s twisted, meandering story and psychological musings. The man himself could barely handle it, his panels cramped and scattered, requiring arrows to guide the reader’s eye.
The TV show is, then, The Maxx distilled and in that regard it succeeds brilliantly. Keith’s artwork animates beautifully and the voice work and music are some of the best in a cartoon. It is a starkly melancholy show, something I’m not sure everyone was expecting from a cartoon. Featuring none of the bombast of Aeon Flux or The Head it was instead an exploration of trauma, violence, and, ultimately, redemption. It is a show well deserving of your Saturday morning if you’ve not seen it before and well worth it for those who have; to sit down and look back to the world of “Remember When”.
Just a note: Take a look at this while you can for the YouTube Police’s wrath is swift and brutal.
Tokyo Nonsense is an 11 person show hitting the Scion Installation L.A. Gallery on Oct. 4th.
The title, TOKYO NONSENSE, not only refers to the city itself but also references the word “nonsense” in the context of Japanese popular culture, connoting so-called “modern decadence”and the rebellious, anti-establishment spirit of the 1960s student protest movement. The work of these 11 young artists reflects both Tokyo’s frenetic energy and the banal realities of everyday city life. The exhibition will consist of more radical forms of expression such as performance,video, and installation art in addition to more traditional mediums such as drawing, painting, and woodblock printing.
Within the Japanese vernacular the word “nonsense” has assumed various meanings throughout modern history, often associated with radical expression that challenged the dominant discourse of the moment. In the early 1930s, “nonsense” was included in the phrase ero-guro-nansensu,which the Japanese mass media used to label decadent and salacious popular culture (literature,film, theatre) that was viewed as a threat to traditional family values. Then in the late 1960s,“nonsense” became the rally cry for the disaffected Japanese students who protested to express their frustration with the current political and social situation at home and abroad. The rebellious spirit evoked by the word “nonsense” in Japan continues today, reincarnated and rearticulated by this group of young artists working in Tokyo. Their work simultaneously reflects the precedent setby the “nonsense” of the 1930s—labeled as absurd and meaningless by the dominant discourse—while dismissing the dominant discourse itself as pure “nonsense,” reminiscent of the protest tactics employed in the 1960s.
Featuring the real-life electric rats of the six-member artist group, Chim|Pom and the surreal woodblock prints of Sachiko Kazama. Scion’s site does not, unfortunately, have any real info on the show. Luckily, there is a preview up on Flickr.
Ah, Canada, that frozen wonderland to the north, with its lush, rolling fields of moose, beer waterfalls, and socialized medicine. Truly, it is a snow covered Eden. This week’s Saturday Morning Cartoons is (mostly) presented by Canada, featuring animators (mostly) from Canada, or films distributed (mostly) by The National Film Board of Canada. If you are so inclined (and you should be) all of these videos, with the exception of the first, can be viewed in a higher resolution on YouTube.
• The Cat Came Back: From Cordell Barker. Mr. Johnson has a yellow cat, which he is desperately trying to rid himself of. His efforts prove…unsuccessful.
• Last Time in Clerkenwell: Russian animator Alex Budovsky’s follow-up to Bathtime in Clerkenwell featuring more mind bending flash animation and infectious music.
• The Danish Poet: Torill Kove’s 2007 Oscar winning mediation on her birth, and the serendipitous events which led to it. Simple, clean lines lend this one a children’s book aesthetic which works perfectly.
• Ryan: Directed by Chris Landreth, Ryan is an animated tribute to Canadian animator Ryan Larkin. Thirty years ago, at the National Film Board of Canada, Ryan produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Winner of an Oscar in 2005, it’s a film whose visuals tell just as much of its story as its dialogue does.
• How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels: Craig Welch’s fantastic, creepy, surreal, Gorey-esque little film about a scientist’s quest for knowledge that is, perhaps, reserved for beings other than mere mortals. Cross hatching should be used more often in animation.
• Yellow Sticky Notes: Nine years worth of Jeff Chiba Stearns’s To-Do lists, written on sticky notes, animated with, well, sticky notes. Trust me, it works.
• Harvey Krumpet: I’m a big fan of Australian animator Adam Elliot’s work, having first seen his shorts Brother, Uncle, and Cousin through The Animation Show. Harvey Krumpet, narrated by Geoffrey Rush, continues the tradition of Elliot’s intimate storytelling; detailing the life of Harvey Krumpet, from his birth in Poland to the end of his life in Australia.
A meaty treat for you to sink your teeth into this morning, loyal viewers. Consider this more of a brunch than a breakfast if you will. To celebrate the stupendous event of the release of the first season of the outstanding Freakazoid! we present four, crazed episodes. Nestled in between these delectable treats lies a surreal, French delicacy: La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet). If you have any questions about your meal, the waiter will be happy to answer them:
• Freakazoid!: “A Matter of Love”, in which Cosgrove gets himself a girlfriend; a girlfriend who may not be what she seems. HUGGBEE!
• Freakazoid!: “The Wrath of Guitierrez”. Guitierrez zaps Freakazoid into a video-game world in order to destroy him.
• La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) René Laloux’s amazingly bizarre science fiction classic set in a future where human, called Oms, have been taken by the gigantic Draag to their home planet and kept as pets; but the the siren call of freedom is strong and rebellion is fermenting among the Oms. Fantastic Planet is one of those films whose effect on me has not been lost, even after multiple viewing. It remains just as strange and wonderful as it did when I first saw it.
• MUSICAL INTERMISSIONThanks, Evil Jim!
• La Planète Sauvage continues, everyone take your seats.
• Freakazoid!: “The Island of Dr. Mystico”. Freakazoid is entrusted with transporting the city’s top villains to the remote country of France. Oh crap, is that Candlejack in that pic-
• Freakazoid!: “Virtual Freak”. Picture this: In a normal mall, in a normal arcade a game is being assembled by two men named Bob who both share a secret desire to date Agent Scully of the X-Files. The game is rumored to be neato torpedo. OR IS IT!?
After careful consideration Randy decided that his master could afford to purchase a new ball and that this particular game of fetch was over.
Thanks to everyone who pinged Ectomo on Valentine’s Day, it made Eliza’s puckered tear ducts moist with joy (or rage, I can never tell)!
The severing of a number of undersea communications cables have elicited claims of sabotage. Edward points to one of the more plausible theories.
The beautiful story of a young woman and the intimate relationship she shares with her speakers. Thanks, Tristion!
What happens when someone with a high speed camera takes video of insects being pelted with various liquids and miniature pies? Mable invites you to find out.
I do not know what is going on in this video but it is NSFW. Looks of disgust should be aimed at ithidet.
Update: The ever lovely and erudite Suzanne points out that the above image is by two Swiss collagists, Plonk & Replonk, and is part of a set of postcards which can be seen here.
Harma Heikens’s work combines mutant babies, prepubescent girls, pigs, and Hans Bellmer to create sculptures that elicit admiration for the imagination on display as well as feelings of acute discomfort. Of course, they might also just elicit a cry of “What the fuck!?”
I find Claude Verlinde’s paintings simply stunning. They are surreal and modern with a painterly, Renaissance quality to them; featuring bizarre landscapes, human/animal hybrids, and beautiful, lithe nymphets. Prints are available at what was, at one time, the affordable price of seventy-five euros which, no doubt soon, will be the exact equivalent of one wheelbarrow full of my near worthless American dollars.
Careful fellow office drones, there be those most offensive of objects, female breasts, in that gallery.
Barnaby Whitfield’s work is akin to taking a tour of hell as illustrated by a seven year-old girl with a severe case of coulrophobia. It is a credit to his abilities that he manages to so perfectly juxtapose the hideous and macabre with the hilariously absurd. Certainly when one first espies the portrait of an Oompa-Loompa, gazing lecherously at the viewer, or a lipstick smeared maiden riding a purple Pegasus, one realizes that they are in for a special kind of perverse magic, however it is only a taste of the bizarre scenery that lays ahead. Beware: may not be safe for work.
If you’re wondering why there are no new episodes of The Maxx you may blame Viacom who, at some point yesterday, swept through YouTube and removed them. Ah well. There is plenty of strangeness left to fill the void. Witness, and be entertained:
• First up is Paranoia Agent, the television series from anime filmmaker Satoshi Kon. If you have never seen any of his work, do not let the seemingly nonsensical opening throw you off, this is one of the most mature and intelligent series done in the past few years. Beware the boy with the golden bat…
• Ah FLCL, also known as Fooly Cooly, a series that was decidedly nonsensical. There are few ways to describe this short, six episode series, that would give you any impressions of it other than “Whaaaa?” which is, most likely, the same reaction you’ll have after having watched it.
• Musical Interlude! If you are uninterested, now would be a good time to refill your bowl of Cocoa Puffs or use the restroom. Our show will resume momentarily.
• Two episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog, “Cabaret Courage” and “Freaky Fred”, which follows a long tradition of worthwhile cartoons by appealing to adults as well as children, without frightening/confusing/boring the latter. “Hello, new friend, my name is Fred. I said, my name is Fred; the words you hear are in my head. I say, I said, my name is Fred and I’ve been very NAAAUGHTY.”
• The Real Ghostbusters, the first episode, entitled “Knock Knock”, written, as many of the first two seasons were, by J. Michael Straczynski. Before the series lightened up in the third season, in order to appeal to a wider and younger audience, this show was, at times, genuinely scary and always brilliantly animated. That quality of animation is especially apparent here.
If asked what I thought was going on this picture I would say a not wholly unwilling deer is caught in the amorous embrace of a frog monster. The deer struggles, yet for all the world bears a look of acceptance and perhaps even pleasure. The deer knows what is in store for her, to be loved tenderly, devoured horribly, and cast aside like so much befouled venison. Perhaps most disturbing about this work is that it doesn’t even being to plumb the depths of surreal horror that is the artwork of Mr. Furie.
In sheer defiance of the World Wide Web Consortium's will, Ectomo was designed using a non-web-standard font. Luckily, it is included in the excellent font pack released by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, which can be freely downloaded in Mac and PC formats here. Ectomo should still look fine without it, though.
