From Spikeworld. | Spikeworld - The blog of Spike Dennis | Artist, Maker, Curator and Colloaborator
Metamorphosis – Fantasy Visions in Starewitch, Švankmajer and the Quay Brothers
This video documents an exhibition entitled ‘Metamorphosis’ which featured the works of master stop motion artists Ladislas Starevich, Jan Svankmajer and the Quay Brothers.
…matter comes to life and is transformed in the hands and imaginations of the creators. They, more than anybody, know about the secret life of objects
It’s a shame that this exhibition has been and gone because if I’d known about it I think I’d have certainly gotten myself to Barcelona to see it. From the video above it looks like it was an extensive exhibition featuring the films for which these artists are well known as well as puppets, sets, and other work such as collages, paintings and drawings. This additional materials helps to “trace the spheres of interest these filmmakers are drawn to: fairytales, horror stories, the world of dreams, cabinets of curiosities, pre-Enlightenment science, alchemy and illusionism“.
Apparently Švankmajer even created his own cabinet of curiosities for the show: “He brought 150 objects over from Prague that represent some 10% of his own private collection!”
Whilst I’m disappointed not to have seen this exhibition, the video documenting the show above has inspired me to finally put some of my puppets to use. I created my Baba Yaga puppet a couple of years ago with the intention of making a short film inspired by the old Russian folk tale but other projects have superseded it.
Having just finished a couple of large projects now seems like a good time to resurrect my Baba Yaga film project whilst I’m feeling inspired!
Metamorfosis exhibition images via CCCB. Click thumbnails to view full screen.
More infromation about this exhibition is avialble via the CCCB website and there is an interview with the Curator of the exhibition available to read online here.
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