Inter-Action: EYE Film Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Oct 192011
 

Tess Martin’s travel blog:

I got back to Amsterdam on Tuesday from Groningen, after a 2.5 hour train ride. I checked in at my hotel near the venue (probably my one and only hotel stay on this entire trip), and made my way over to the EYE Film Institute. After checking in with the projectionist (we had already tested everything the previous day), I had dinner with two lovely Institute staff members, Peter and Sanne, both busy people with impressive responsibilities.

The event started at 7:30PM, and again people came! We had about 45 in a not very big cinema, so it looked pretty full. I got some nice questions about funding and distribution, how we use computers in our work, and what is it like to be a freelancer in the United States? Our Inter-Action program was followed by the documentary about Bruce Bickford called Monster Road, directed by Brett Ingram. I even met an animator who invited me to check out her studio. I hope to make it over there tomorrow.

A few more days in good old (now rainy) Amsterdam, and then I leave for Berlin on Friday morning. The next event is Sunday the 23rd at Lichtblick Kino!

The EYE Film Institute in Vondel Park. They are actually moviong next month into an ultra modern new building on the north side of the Ij, across the water from Central Station

One of the EYE's two cinemas

This is a video I took inside the projector room at EYE, when they were screening Eraserhead in the next door cinema. They use big ‘platters’ that hold the one giant spool (already spliced together).

Inter-Action: VERA, Groningen, The Netherlands

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Oct 182011
 

Tess Martin’s travel blog:

Groningen is a town about two and a half hours (by train) north of Amsterdam. I don’t know much about it, but it has a few big universities, nice traditional architecture downtown, and is home of VERA, a volunteer-run organization that has been around for years. They host 3 or 4 live music gigs a week, and once a week they have a film night. They have a big live music venue, but also a bar in the cellar, a cafe area upstairs for the staff, and a hotel or sorts at the back of the building for bands and itinerant film directors.
I arrived and was very nicely met at the station by David Raats, seasoned volunteer. After a tech check and dinner at a nearby organic restaurant it was time for the show! The volunteers transformed the empty live music room into a cinema by installing risers, chairs, curtains, projector and screen. They do that every week! That’s dedication. The 60 or so seats got pretty full, and the Inter-Action program was preceded by 30 minutes of animations from Groningen filmmakers. No serious technical difficulties, and some interesting questions and mingling in the bar afterwards. Success! Thank you to David, Rob and Matt for a fun evening!

Next up, the Amsterdam Part II event at the Eye Film Institute tonight!

VERA entrance - yes, that is a poster for the Inter-Action event you see in the lower right!

Our poster!

Cinema with program on the screen

Lovely accommodation - thanks Vera!

Inter-Action: De Nieuwe Anita, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Oct 172011
 

Tess Martin’s travel blog – Sunday Oct 16th:

I arrived in Amsterdam after a few lovely days at a friend’s place in The Hague. De Nieuwe Anita is a funky venue near the Jordaan neighborhood of the city with lots of space – they have a large circular bar in the front room that doubles as a live music stage some nights, with lots of couches. The presentation space is down some stairs and can be used for live music as well as movies. This screening was a slightly different program from the regular Inter-Action program, and functioned as a Part I to the EYE Film Institute screening (also in Amsterdam) on Tuesday. The screening room got pretty full of people, only 1 of whom was a friend of mine! Some interesting questions after as well. I totally blanked on taking pictures this time, so these below are not mine but from the internets. Tonight (the 17th) is the VERA screening in Groningen!

De Nieuwe Anita

De Nieuwe Anita bar area

Inter-Action: Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle, UK

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Oct 142011
 

Tess Martin’s travel blog:

I got into Newcastle yesterday around noon, and was met by Mat Fleming, one of the programmers at the Star and Shadow Cinema, an alternative space that has been around about ten years. I spent a few hours walking around the city, and swinging by the Northumbria University and Newcastle University campuses – Northumbria is the one that has an animation course in their media department. By the description in their prospectus it seems quite commercially oriented, but apparently they’ve just hired a few animation tutors who are more broad-minded. In fact, a bunch of their students came to the screening that evening.

Mat and I swung by the private view of a video art exhibition curated by a friend of his, and settled in at the cinema. The seats got quite full, and Mat said about half the people were new faces to him – probably the animation students mentioned earlier. The Inter-Action screening went well despite a technical hiccup, and there were interesting questions afterwards about distribution, funding and techniques. The cinema has a nice bar area out front where everyone mingled into the late hours.

The evening was capped off by a late night rescue of Claus the cat, who had gotten himself stuck down in a basement patio 8 feet below ground level. We finally had to lower a ladder and the cat climbed straight up. The next morning he mauled a bird and brought it, still alive, to the front door. Thank you, perhaps?

Thanks very much to Mat and his welcoming, inspiring housemates for such a fun time!

Friday I take the train to the Netherlands, and the next event is at De Nieuwe Anita in Amsterdam on Sunday, Oct 16th.

Sheep on the way to Newcastle

entrance to the Star and Shadow cinema

front bar area

cinema

Inter-Action: University of Brighton, Brighton, UK

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Oct 112011
 

From Tess Martin’s travel blog – on tour with SEAT films:

On Monday, Oct 10th I took the train south for an hour to Brighton. I visited the University of Brighton, where I graduated from with a BA Fine Art Sculpture in 2007. This time, though, I was visiting the new Moving Image course, to give a talk about my work, show a selection of the Inter-Action program, and discuss the Seattle Experimental Animation Team. It went well! There were about 25-30 students, mostly Moving Image, but also Illustration, and I could tell that a few of them really valued the experience, as Brighton doesn’t have strong focus on animation normally.

I then spent the day catching up with my old city and old friends. The West pier (below) was visibly more deteriorated than last time I saw it.

 

Front door of the University of Brighton Grand Parade campus

 

The Moving Image BA/MFA room

Brighton's West Pier

 

SEAT channel on Instant Cinema

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Oct 052011
 

Instant Cinema is an invitation-only online platform for experimental film, video and computer art run by Amsterdam’s EYE Film Institute. Tess Martin was invited to curate a channel of films by members of SEAT, Seattle Experimental Animation Team: Tess’ A Moment’s Reverie, Drew Christie’s Empress of the North video, Salise Hughes’ Tidal Wave, Aaron Wendel’s Bric-a-Brac and Britta Joshon’s Waterway (among others) can be watched alongside films by Bas Jan Ader, Vito Acconci and young Dutch filmmakers. Find out more here.

Inter-Action European Tour – French date announced!

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Oct 052011
 

Another flier in! This one is from La Peniche, the cinema in Paris that is hosting the Inter-Action program on Oct 28th. A selection of the films will be shown alongside French animations as part of the Festival of Animated Film, a festival organized by the French ASIFA chapter, which takes place through the month of October all over the city.

Inter-Action European tour – program change in Amsterdam

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Oct 052011
 

One of the venues in Amsterdam, De Nieuwe Anita (Sun Oct 16), will now be screening an alternate program of films by SEAT filmmakers. This new program includes an excerpt from Bruce Bickford’s CAS’L’, a clay animated film he started in 1988:

 

1. Britta Johnson, Two Dots, 4:39 (2009)
Marbles illustrate the subtle math of a relationship in this video made for Lusine’s song ‘Two Dots.’ Marbles, dental floss and wax animated frame by frame.
http://www.thekmpi.net/

2. Aaron Wendel, Bric-a-Brac, 1:55 (2010)
A collection of keys, coins, and other junk-drawer objects, rendered by crayon rubbings to form a cast of characters.
http://www.aarondwendel.com/

3. Amanda Moore, Bridging Wounds, 5:00 (2009)
A whimsical exploration of the lives of strangers told through silhouette puppet animation.
http://amandaleamoore.com/

4. Drew Christie, Empress of the North, 4:00, (2010)
Animated by local artist Drew Christie, this video for “Empress of the North” for the band Moondoggies tells the story of a man losing something, finding it again, and then.. well.. you’ll see. Watercolor on paper.
http://www.drewchristie.com/

5. Tess Martin, A Moment’s Reverie, 10:15, (2007)
The letters in a book come alive and trigger a journey through thoughts and dreams. Made with tissue paper cut-outs on a light-box.
http://www.filmandscissors.com/

6. Clyde Petersen, The Dirty Street, 4:44, (2010)
A found footage film, recut, projected and rephotographed using the “Hipstamatic” app for IPhone one frame at a time. Music by Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death. Footage: “Jealousy” – a Prelinger Archives film from the Series, Marriage for Moderns. (1954)
http://www.doitforthegirls.com/

7.Sarah Jane Lapp, Chronicles of an Asthmatic Stripper, 5:02 (2002)
A day in the life of a worker whose every inhalation is both occupation and liberation. Made in collaboration with Mark Dresser. India ink, wax, and gouache on paper.
http://www.cinemagoat.com/

8. Salise Hughes, Somewhere, 4:00 (2010)
Somewhere between a 1950s sock hop and the Wild West, a Technicolor and Black and White pair of lovers meet to belt out a tune from “West Side Story.” Found footage manipulated frame by frame.
http://salisehughes.blogspot.com/

9. Stefan Gruber, Petting Zoo 1&2, 8:00 (2008)
Bottle-headed men are investigated in their haunt, an abandoned zoo. Animals trapped in their globular cages, are left in the care of their hollow and fragile captors. A potential liberator drifts into town. What plans are behind his ever widening stare? Hand-animated in Flash.
http://www.stefangruber.com/

10. Bruce Bickford, CAS’L’, 10:00 excerpt from 46min film (2011)
CAS’L’ is an elusive place usually found only accidentally, though it is sometimes obvious. It has manifold manifestations in its many levels above and below ground. The animation for CAS’L’ started in 1988 and was finished in 1997. It has only recently been completed with an audio track.
http://www.brucebickford.com/

Total running time: 52:45

Inter-Action European Tour – Berlin date announced!

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Oct 052011
 

Check it out! The Berlin venue, Lichtblick Kino, has produced this handy two fold flier for the Inter-Action screening on October 23rd. ‘Kurz Gesehen’ means ‘Seen Briefly’. Below it is the section from their October printed program which also profiles the screening.

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