The Animation Pimp writes an ode to unsung animator, Martha Colburn, in his classic pimpish prose.
Background: its a given that almost every known animator in the animation community is unknown outside of it. There are also many animators whose works have been ignored or unsung by the animation community. When I feel like it, I will try and introduce you to some of these folks.
Oh heavens above thank you, thank you, thank you. Ya see, Ive been at a crossroads with ol animation of late. All it seems to offer me is all these tender/precious/oh-so-fucking sensitive/carefully crafted/take forever to make HIGH ART works or these bland/ha ha/goofy fart/vomit gags fooling themselves, and the shits who watch them, into thinking theyre real original, unique, rebellious punk rock like Avril Lavigne (shes from round here ya know). Give me a break, but oh baby, thank you for Martha [Colburn].
First off, Martha is real sexy. Id like to suck her toes or even naw on her bones any ol day. We met in Utrecht. I was rude, she was rude she won. Took the damn chair we said we were saving. Bitch. Didnt know who she was. Then I saw her films, sort of like, umm, Albert Ayler hangin with Betty Page, Roger Corman and William Castle crazy/out of control/in your face/constant zoom/pop art collage painted over with occasional photo cutout figures. Trash culture at its finest. A THANK YOU in the faces of all those craft/technique perfections who dominate the animation world.
Marthas having a good time and so am I. No high falutin ideas here, just groovy bug attacks cat loving dogs, a world gone zombie dogs getting off on cats. Hey loser, x-ray vision doesnt mean youre gonna see titties and skin just ba-ba-ba-ba bone buddy, you wanna see whats underneath them panties. Really, underneath tis all bone, thats it all. If theres a punk rock animator, tis Martha. Images like boxers, they shift, duck, dance and jab, manic zooms like non-stop jabs teasing you, tappin your chin before the right comes smash-smash-smashin into your jaw knockout.
Dont look for no safety net, no hand to grab onto. There aint no core, no fixed, no nothing, to protect you. Sex, sex, sex, so much sex, it aint sexy no more. Even Martha strips ala Betty Page. Choppy, blurry, those damn zooms cant focus. Not getting turned, on her antitease, spread-eagled women all over the place, but they aint doing so well getting their toes flossed eyes are all zombied out with fangs. Martha likes poets and musicians. Jad Fair does a lot of crazy nonsequitor accompaniment and check out this 99 Hooker dude, especially his manic, apeshit, world gone mad, I cant keep up, guys lost pace with a world whats on.
TV in Marthas world. I never had a pervert in my pool, but is Clinton really a perv? He got his wang chunged, big deal, what guy doesnt. Are all guys perverts? Arent there any woman perverts? Is Martha a perv? Hey, maybe fatty did put the bottle up her stream, but she went with it. Whos the perv the perv or the one who follows the perv? Are animals into kink like us? Are we animals for being kink, whats kink Lola? Ever seen an eight-legged cock-swallowing spider or web shooting titties? Do spiders smoke after sex? Everyone else seems to smoke. Why do people smoke? They smoke everywhere. What the fuck, its gonna kill you, no ifs and butts (heh heh). Course life is killing you too, whats the diff between eating bigmacchocolateeggsfriesoilgreaseanimalfat and smoking fuck a duck.
Is this trash culture one mans jewel, another gals trash? Trash is used, lived, loved, absorbed, dumped, eaten, shitted. Trash has gone through the system. Its been taken to the ropes. Jewels just touched, admired behind glass, protected, precious what kinda life is that? Life unlived is a lifeless life. Toe-tar-tar, we neglect the obvious like toes, toes, toes, toes pedgsicles. Ha, ha, why not? Toes probably tastier and better than fudgsicles, but I like fudgesicles. So fuck you Martha, whats with toe sucking anyway? Never tried it either way, lots of folks seem to dig it, toe jam. Do farmers get their toes pecked by chicks? My not-real pops had this little fuck of a dog who likes to bite toes. That freaks me out. Leave my fucking toes alone doggie, go watch some cat porn, freak did.
Napoleon have a foot underneath that coat he was capital nut. Man, oh man, I could go on and on, but I need to get some lunch. Like being in a world with a personality disorder, thats what so real bout Martha. Cause this world that seems so weird is really pretty damn accurate. Slike shes making uncensored documentaries, unhindered by narrative, free for all, guttural, automatic, concrete poetry. Maybe ill, have some fat, but hey dey, giggly day, lets just say that I dig Martha whos living and loving it all, and not fussing about polish. Just seeing the world as it is, not as we delusion, makes me feel fucking free, free, free possibilities. Life IS beautiful.
Martha Colburn is a Baltimore-born filmmaker. Most of her work is super 8 a fusion of scratch, collage, drawing and cutout. She resides in The Netherlands. Go to google.com and type in her name to find out more, and do your self a big favor and find her work. Its funny, provocative, sexy and nifty.
Chris Robinson is but a man. His hobbies include squirrel taunting, goat thumping, meat dancing and elderly peeping. You can find the results at http://asifa.net/robinson.
A well-known figure in the world of independent animation, writer, author & curator Chris Robinson is the Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
