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Hello again! Ya boi Mo is back with another epic review; this time we've got something really special. I was lucky enough to catch THREE screenings AND a rave this weekend. WOW ! Soooo much to unpack ...
Much of my weekend took place at the Block Museum at Northwestern. It's a fancy typa spot with exhibitions, modern interior and those movie seats with the pull-out lecture desks. IMO, the best part about the theater is that all of their screenings are free to the public. They're also highly curated , and super educational.
PART 1: Not by Magic, Animated Films by Women from Serious Business Company
After a three-stage commute from the city, the first screening I caught at Block was on Friday night. I had invited my Mom, Aunt, and my friend Laura to see the NOT BY MAGIC screening with me. Most of the works featured date back to the 1970s, a pivotal time in the women's liberation movement. Although not as frequently acknowledged as their male counterparts, women have always pushed boundaries in the medium of animation (and, of course, continue to do so today). I was super stoked to see that they were curating a screening to highlight this and shed some light on the animators that aren't always mentioned in the history books.
And what better group to go with than three very important women in my life? I hadn't seen my community college bestie Laura in a while, since now that I live in the city, it's been really hard for us to get together. Same with my Aunt Julie, who's been an artistic inspiration to me since I was little. She makes a lot of beautiful work and I knew the screening would be of interest to her. And, of course, my Mom tagged along too! She liked watching cartoons with me when I was little, and needed some time away from my Dad and Brother's 24/7 football watching xD
Initially, I was worried that the screening might be too long or not appeal to them (Especially with my mom, whom I inherited my crippling ADD from, she isn't really into art films). The screening was scheduled to be two and a half hours long, prefaced by a lecture. In the digital age, this can be a real test of the attention span. Plus, you can't check your phone in a movie theater (I mean you can, but come onnn).
However, the lecture was fascinating. It gave a short introduction to the work of Serious Business Company, founded by Freude Bartlett in 1972. As a single mother, female empowerment was at the forefront of what she did. Her company focused on the distribution of women-made experimental animations, essentially creating its own market to showcase independent creators. Freude often stated the prosperity in selflessness and free-form expression rather than considering it as a business enterprise.
Many of the films featured in the screening contained themes of identity and sexual liberation, or as my mom put it, "so many cats and d*cks." For displaying such abstract concepts in such cutting-edge techniques, the films were grounded in a very personable manner. Whimsical, creative, and relatable, the films were entertaining to all who attended. As someone looking to pursue experimental animation, this gave me hope for the untapped potential of the medium's appeal to the masses.
If you're interested in learning more about this, I'd highly recommend checking out "Quasi at the Quackadero" by Sally Cruikshank (1975), one of the films shown. You can actually watch in on YouTube, via Cruikshank own channel. Shout out to my aunt, who had actually seen this before, screened at U of I within a couple years of its release. Super cool!
Part Two: Eyeworks, Experimental Animation Series, 2024
Anddd now, for the main event! I've been wanting to go to Eyeworks for some time now, ever since I heard about it last year. Two whole blocks (or about five hours) of curated experimental animation, many new, some more archival, all rare and unique pieces of media that I can talk about ad museum. This is truly a show of great variety, with animations from all across space and time: Mathematical demonstrations from 1938, early computer graphics, more recent experiments in low poly 3D rendering, Inuit stop motion film photography, just to name a few... there is truly something for everyone.
Before the show, they played some loops (crafted by Yoriko Mizushiri) in order to get the crowd amped up for what was to come.
But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself... To give a bit more background on Eyeworks, the festival started in 2010 with a focus on new and historic, individual-artist films that push boundaries in the medium of animation. Organized by Alexander Stewart and Lilli Carré and presented by pioneer works, Eyeworks has three yearly screenings across the country, in New York, LA, and, of course, their hometown of Chicago. As the flyer states, "The aim of Eyeworks is to present works that engage the enormous potential inherent in the art form of animation, and to show pieces that use animation as a part of distinctly personal, conceptual, exploratory and critical practices."
And that it did, very effectively.
One important moment that I wanted to share from the screening was a line from the film Mirror Products Catalog by Annapurna Kumar (2024), which boldly states: "I wish I was a machine... The machine that produces the image." This line perfectly encapsulates the philosophy of independent animation. An independent animator is essentially creating a film out of thin air, using only their imagination and whatever prior technical knowledge they happen to have (though the latter is far less important). In building an animated work, the creator may picture their film as an extension of the self, but this may also lead to believing themselves as an extension of the film. In such an all-consuming process (the word animate literally breaks down as "to bring life"), one can only hope to become like a machine, conjuring these ideas and expressing them as seamlessly as possible.
Between showings, I checked out the upstairs gallery at the block, also featuring an experimental animation, projected on three gigantic walls. A very topical piece, this animation depicts America, a naturalistic-paradise-turned-political-circus.
But anyways, back to Eyeworks:
This screening ended up pulling one of the largest and most enthusiastic crowds I had seen for experimental animation! By the second block, the theater had actually hit capacity! Side note: I ended up sitting next to a comic artist that I recognized from Instagram (shout out Max Morris).
For the second showing, there was a talk between Ben, an archivist, and Katie, the daughter of Ed Count, one of the filmmakers featured. They spoke about the process of archiving the film "Rockers," originally published by Count in 1990. A man of many talents, Count worked as a professor of instructional technology. The computational influence is clear to see in the film, with rhythmic editing and an art style that emphasizes fluidity and simple, expressive line-work. Archivist Ben remarked on his excitement of finding a reel of one of Count's films in an attic. With a keen interest in Kentucky film history, he recognized its importance and contacted Katie, who hadn't seen the film in completion. Her mother and father, the two figures depicted in "Rockers," had passed away when she was in her 20s. She explained that re-discovering the film provided an important glimpse into the lives of her parents. Katie remarked that she had found the hundreds of drawings of her mother, and seeing them stitched together in the film allowed her to "read between the lines [or frames] of her parent's relationship." The drawings were made over the course of 6 to 8 years and provide an intimate portrait of young, married life. Count was self-taught in animation and worked in a home studio. Later on, he had even hired Katie to help with some of his pieces (and paid her 25 cents a drawing, lol).
To me, this talk really emphasized the importance of archival efforts, and how film can bring people together generational gaps. Katie remarked that in her childhood, she didn't see her parents as outwardly affectionate towards one another. However, from watching the film, one considers how Human emotion is universal. Many old, forgotten films can represent specific experiences and show us what love means in an infinite amount of ways.
Their talk ended with a recommendation for "Mystify Your Mind," an old windows screensaver, and something called "Drifting Bodies." Then, they invited everyone to meet them to talk further and grab a bite to eat. I lingered around for a minute and chatted with some of my Anim faves, including the great ddbentl (who viciously threatened me to submit to itz upcoming film fest :0), and the malt adult crew, who are always cooking up something interesting... much to blabber on about.
Unfortunately, I had to let my body drift on over to the train station and commute home so I could get some sleep. x_x
BONUS COVERAGE: Signal Clearance, Piezo
Later that night, I was able to meet up with my friends at a rave! It was super cool, I'm not really sure how to categorize the music, or describe the venue, or explain the lineup, which is fine b/c I've already blabbered on too much in this article...
Here's some videos of it or wutever,, thanks for reading xx
-MH
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