New Book/DVD Tracks History & Influence of animate!
animate!, the commissioning project established by Arts Council England and Channel 4 that supports risk-taking and experimental animation works for television, is the focus of the ANIMATE! BOOK, published in December 2006 by LUX in collaboration with Arts Council England. Since 1990, animate! has commissioned 84 diverse films including works from David Shrigley (WHO I AM AND WHAT I WANT), Run Wrake (RABBIT) and AL + AL (PERPETUAL MOTION IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY, INTERSTELLA STELLA), amongst others. The ANIMATE! BOOK, stylishly designed with 870 full-color graphics and film images, explores the discourses round the scheme, taking animate! as a starting point for a wide ranging exploration of the relationship between art and animation, and the place of animation and its concepts in contemporary art practice.
Edwin Carels in his essay, "Animation = A multiplication of art forms" explores the historical oscillation of animation between art and cinema in critical discourse. In "Build it and They Will Come: animate! and the Extended Imagination," Gareth Evans and Dick Arnall trace the history of the animate! commissions in terms of paradigm shifting moments in both animation technology and practice. In his essay, "Occupation: Animation and the Visual Arts," Ian White draws out some of the darker connotations inherent in animation concepts and traces them through the work of visual artists who are not usually known as "animators." Angela Kingston describes the particular challenges of working with animation in a gallery context and exploring ideas of animation cross medium, beyond film and video. Mike Sperlinger interviews eight animators -- AL + AL, Paul Bush, Ann Course, Inger Lise Hansen, Jonathan Hodgson, Tim Hope, Ruth Lingford, Tim Macmillan -- who have been commissioned by animate!, about their practice and perspectives on animation.
The book additionally comes with a DVD of ten films commissioned by animate! representing the diversity of projects that the project has supported which includes COWBOYS / THAT'S NOTHIN' by Phil Mulloy (1991), SOHO SQUARE by Mario Cavalli (1992), BIOGENESIS by William Latham (1993), WHAT SHE WANTS by Ruth Lingford (1994), FEELING MY WAY by Jonathan Hodgson (1997), WITHDRAWAL by George Barber (1997), FERMENT by Tim Macmillan (1999), LOVE IS ALL by Olivier Harrison (1999), ROTTING ARTIST by Ann Course & Paul Clark (2002), PERPETUAL MOTION IN THE LAND OF MILK AND HONEY by AL+AL (2004).
The book will sell for £19.95 and will be distributed by Wallflower Press. For more information, visit www.wallflowerpress.co.uk.