AWAS! 2016 Screening #1

Dust Breeding, Findars Art Space and Raksasa Print Studio
present
A selection of movies from the first edition of AWAS! (A Week of Animation Shorts) 2016, Kuala Lumpur

Curated by Fabrizio Gilardino and Andrea Martignoni

Bridge Caf? and Art Space

Friday April 8, 2016

9:00 pm

total time: approx. 71min00

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Friday April 8 Programme

1. Blu (Italy) : Big Bang Big Boom : 10min00 : 2010
2. Wang Haiyang (China) : ????, ???? (Freud, Fish and Butterfly) : 3min30 : 2012
3. Vessela Dantcheva (Bulgaria) : Anna Blume : 9min00 : 2009
4. Valerio Spinelli (Italy) : Pandemonio (Pandemonium) : 3min00 : 2015
5. Joni Mannist? (Finland) : Kuhina (Swarming) : 7min20 : 2011
6. Iwasaki Hirotoshi (Japan) : Dark Mixer : 4min55 : 2014
7. Maria Steinmetz (Russia/Germany) : Der Wechselbalg (Changeling) : 8min20 : 2011
8. Sun Xun (China) : ???? (Clowns Revolution) : 10min10 : 2010
9. G?bor Ulrich (Hungary) : Mit kell tudni a kutyaidom?t?shoz? (What One Does to Know in Order to Train Dogs?) : 5min00 : 2012
10. Wada Atsushi (Japan) : ??????? (In a Pig’s Eye) : 10min10 : 2010

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notes about the shorts/authors

1. Blu (Italy)
Big Bang Big Boom
10min00
2010

“Big Bang Big Boom” is a typical Blu “giant animation” that makes use of different urban public spaces (walls, beaches, parking lots, abandoned buildings) as over-sized canvases to be painted upon. Shot over a period of a few months in both Argentina and Uruguay, “BIg Bang Big Boom” combines many of Blu’s favourite themes (the d/evolution of human beings, the lurking danger of an imminent man-triggered (or nuclear) catastrophe) and his (by now) quasi-classical hordes of fishes and crabs, dinosaurs and reptiles in a 10-minute visual tour de force.

Blu is the most famous Italian street artist. His giant walls can be seen all around the world, from MIlan and Rome to Belgrade, Vienna, London and Barcelona in Europe, from Bethlehem in the West Bank to many Central and South-American cities, including Mexico City, Guatemala City, Managua, Buenos Aires and S?o Paulo.

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2. Wang Haiyang (China)
????, ???? (Freud, Fish and Butterfly)
3min30
2012

In his animated videos, Wang Haiyang fully expresses himself through stream of consciousness. “Freud, Fish and Butterfly” is an “animated painting” that results from his extraordinary work involving pastel drawings and successive erasures. The artist uses a technique similar to that of South African painter and animator William Kentridge, always drawing on the same sheet of paper. He photographs each stage of this patient and meticulous handwork, and then animates the images to create a video.

Wang Haiyang was born in 1984 in the province of Shandong, People’s Republic of China. In 2008, he received his degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, where he specialized in painting and engraving. Most recently, his animation short movies “Freud, Fish and Butterfly” and “Double Fikret” were awarded prizes in Leipzig, Montreal and Utrecht, as well as having been selected in more than twenty other international festivals. In 2012, Wang Haiyang won the Today Art Museum of Beijing's “Young Talent” award. He currently lives and works in Beijing.

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3. Vessela Dantcheva (Bulgaria)
Anna Blume
9min00
2009

Vessela’s short movie “Anna Blume” — which has been referred to as “visual poetry about the lust of a man chasing a woman; a surreal journey dictated by the mind of a poet” — is based on “An Anna Blume”, a poem written by German artist Kurt Schwitters in 1919. It has been described as a parody of a love poem, an emblem of the chaos and madness of the era (Germany was slowly recovering from the political, military and economic collapse of the First World War), and as a harbinger of a new poetic language.

Bulgarian independent film director, producer and visual artist Vessela Dantcheva (born 1975) studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York and at Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam. She is a co-founder of FinFilm animation studio and Compote Collective. Her films have been screened and awarded at a number of international film festivals.

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4. Valerio Spinelli (Italy)
Pandemonio (Pandemonium)
3min00
2015

“Pandemonio” is a kaleidoscope of monsters, animals and other strange creatures brought to life by the powerful score penned by Italian free jazz-hardcore improv band Zu. Each figure is made by overlapping felt circles. The animation is obtained by moving, resizing and painting every circle without deforming its perfect shape.

Valerio Spinelli was born in Rome, Italy in 1980. Since 2001, he has worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, animator and sound designer. His main project, PixelPongo, allows him to play, explore, deform, experiment, mix and combine sounds, music, graphics, illustration and animation, working with pixels as they were play-doh.

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5. Joni Mannist? (Finland)
Kuhina (Swarming)
7min20
2011

Mannist?'s multi-award winner short movie “Kuhina” tells the story of a peculiar child who discovers life inside a dead bird and starts to play with it…

Joni Mannist? is an independent Finnish animator. He teaches the basics of animated movement at the Arts Academy, Turku University of Applied Sciences, from which he graduated in 2011.

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6. Iwasaki Hirotoshi (Japan)
Dark Mixer
4min55
2014

“The concept of “Dark Mixer” (a short loop animation) is ‘transformation’. I got the idea for this clip from alchemy. I believe that rotoscope animation and alchemy are similar in a way where you take an existing piece/object, add something to it, and create something completely new. The idea behind the title is to take everyday things and dump them into the mixer/blender to create something that is unfamiliar to us. It may lead us to look at everyday life in a different way.” (Iwasaki Hirotoshi)

“Dark Mixer” won the Grand Prix for Non-Narrative Short at the Holland Animation Film Festival 2015, Utrecht.

Born in Ibaraki, Japan in 1981, Iwasaki Hirotoshi is an artist and independent, experimental animator. In 2008 he graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts with a Master's degree in Contemporary Arts. He’s currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Contemporary Art at the same university.

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7. Maria Steinmetz (Russia/Germany)
Der Wechselbalg (Changeling)
8min20
2011

“Der Wechselbalg” is based on a short story by Swedish writer Selma Lagerl?f (from her book “Troll och m?nniskor”) and involves intolerance and superstition, humans and trolls. Trolls are supernatural beings from Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore who live far from human habitation, are not Christianized, and are considered dangerous to human beings. Depending on the region from which accounts of trolls stem, their appearance varies greatly; trolls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings, with no particularly grotesque characteristic about them.

Russian-born animator Maria Steinmetz graduated from Filmuniversit?t Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, in Germany. She lives and works in Berlin.

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8. Sun Xun (China)
???? (Clowns Revolution)
10min10
2010

Considered one of China’s most talented rising young artists, Sun Xun’s artistic practice combines meticulous craftsmanship with stylistic experimentation not limited to any one medium. Blurring the lines between drawing, painting, animation and installation, his work incorporates a wide array of materials. Painting, woodcuts, traditional Chinese ink and charcoal drawings are often combined to create the foundation of expressionistic, stop-motion animated films. For ”Clown's Revolution" (funded by the Holland Animation Festival, Utrecht ) Sun Xun got inspired from his observations of Dutch society.

Sun Xun was born in Fuxin, an industrial mining town in northeast China, and grew up in the period immediately following the Chinese Cultural Revolution. He studied printmaking at the China Academy of Fine Arts, and founded Pi animation studio in 2006. In 2010 he was awarded the Best Young Artists award by the CCAA, the Young Art Award by Taiwan Contemporary Art Link and the Arts Fellowship by Citivella Ranieri Foundation (Italy). Sun Xun has held multiple solo exhibitions around the world, from Los Angeles and New York to London and Shanghai, and his films have been screened at major international animation festivals. Sun Xun lives and works in Beijing, China.

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9. G?bor Ulrich (Hungary)
Mit kell tudni a kutyaidom?t?shoz? (What One Does to Know in Order to Train Dogs?)
5min00
2012

“There are those who miss a mortgage payment, but nonetheless make more purchases; there are those who laugh out loud at inappropriate moments, and who do not clean their shoes properly (…).” (G?bor Ulrich)

Typographer, graphic design and animator G?bor Ulrich was born in Hungary in 1967. He’s a member of the board of directors of the independent film company Kecskem?tfilm.

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10. Wada Atsushi (Japan)
??????? (In a Pig’s Eye)
10min10
2010

“A weird relationship between a pig, a dog, and humans. Do we forgive the existence of a gap?” (Wada Atsushi)

In a Pig's Eye has been nominated at Zagreb, Annecy, Hiroshima, and Ottawa animation festivals, and won the Best Film at Fantoche International Animation Film Festival, Baden (Switzerland) and the Grand Prix at London International Animation Film Festival in 2010.

Japanese animator Wada Atsushi was born in 1980. He graduated from Osaka Kyoiku University, Image Forum Institute of Moving image, and Tokyo University of the Arts.

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