My good friend Jon Klassen came over to Berlin in October. We decided to make a small video, we sketched out some ideas, Jon did some designs and I took it from there.
The result is this 2 minute video loop which doesn’t really fit into any category except here, online, right now, this very second, for you and you alone.
Note: if you head over to the vimeo version there’s a loop feature if you right click over it…
Those of you in London: this is showing at the “A Foundation Gallery” at Rochelle School, London E2 7ES. It’s a show dedicated to collaboration stuff. Details Here.
Made in one take on my little slow motion camera. The firework was a cheap indoor thing I bought in the supermarket, we poured flour on it, lit it and I spilled the cards while Fons blew the bubbles. The flame explosion was a total accident.
I’m usually never aware that my monitor is actually flickering 60 times a second, but I just discovered a little perceptual giveaway. If you see an isolated shape in space and shift your eyes away from it, instead of smooth motion blur you momentarily see multiple instances of the shape.
I’ve consistently loved drawing with a ballpoint pen. It’s not only the feel of the pen against paper, it’s also the fact you can’t really make a mistake with it. There’s no way to cover it up smoothly.
In that sense the drawing is almost equivalent of what live performance is to music. The sound isn’t as perfect as the studio recording but as a viewer you are even more suspended when you’re aware it could completely collapse at any moment.
The contoured line is also has a time aspect. It has a distinct start and end. It also has to move at a controlled speed around an object. If you stop or slow down too much, the line gets heavy, if you move too fast, you lose proportion and detail.
