I didn't know that such an usual drawing and poster can make such a noise...Incredible... I had much more daring posters in my life. But it seems that the animation community is a little special. And this conversation happens in 2009?!!! Not in 1909...First it was fun. Now it is becoming a little bit ...painful. I think I don't have to explain what I meant with this poster, and why... It looks like an aesthetic war now...
Up to now the poster was compared to Rauschenberg, Kleine, Basquiat, Miro, Picasso, etc...All artist from the modern art, different in style and approach. I only wished I was able to make art as all of them.
Here are the links:
Amid Amidi
Animation Pimp
Michael Sporn
Cartoon cave
Chris Robinson
Asterisk
My friend Marco De Blois, animation curator at Cimémathèque Quebecoise started a very interesting blog with Animation festivals posters, inspired by this dispute:
http://marcodeblois.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
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I am an illustrator based in Ireland and I have even heard of the controversy you have caused with your poster, which I like by the way. I would say to you - job well done, if you have this amount of people talking about your poster I think you have achieved more than the Ottawa Animation Film Festival could hope for.
ReplyDeleteHi Theodore,
ReplyDeleteI'm an animation student from Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, and I wanted to address the comment you left on one of my teacher's blogs, The Cartoon Cave.
"Too bad that the teachers at Sheridan don't get it. Poor students..."
Were it not for this last comment, I probably would not have bothered. However, I will defend what I think to be inacurate about what is being discussed in regards to my institution and my program, especially the teachers.
I read the entire blog page and I understand the argument, but to insinuate that the institution and all of it's teachers do not understand an art concept (which there is a difference between not understanding and disagreeing with), seems a little pretentious to me, not to mention it also being false. The institution does not focus merely on animation. It also has a very large illustration department as well as design. I have met many of the staff in these departments who share the same visual ideas and conceptual thinking. The animation department is focused on the traditional methods of teaching the curriculum - something I absolutely love. I will always favor the method of learning all the essential elements to art and how to use them to the best of your ability before simplifying and breaking down the form. Many of the artists that we look at for inspiration followed that very same method, such as Picasso. Further more, the animation course also includes an art history class, which is mandatory. It is essential to learn the history of art and the reasons behind the work to better understand the movements created up until now. That is why animation students are free to do what ever they feel like for their final film. We are taught to draw traditionally, but we still have the freedom to experiment, which many of our teachers encourage.
I welcome a reply back, as art has become a very big part of my life, in all of its mediums and styles. Thank you for reading.
I like your art. Whether or not it is the "best" way to convey the message of an animation festival poster, I have no idea, as I am new to such discussions among artists. I enjoy reading and learning from the debate. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTheodore - I am one of many artists who think your poster is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteCheerio.
Hi Theo! I also just wanted to chime in to say I love your poster. It reminds me of the great Polish graphic artists of the mid 20th century, and there's not much better compliment than that :)
ReplyDeletewhen i was in college i had art teachers that were scared of new things too. i think the poster is great
ReplyDeletetheo,
ReplyDeletei believe there is a historical precedent to all of this: jules engel, my mentor at calarts, once told us this story: back in the 1960's he was showing his film "coaraze" in paris and during the screening the audience started a riot in the theatre. luckily man ray was there with his cane to protect him from the angry mob. i'm sure they all had a good laugh afterwords.
regardless of the fawning or the bile you're art has spawned a 6+ blog discussion, a real achievement and possibly a first for in the animation field. contgratulations!
Mr Ushev,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for your apology. I greatly admire the animation department in my institution as well as its Professors. Again, I usually don’t step into these things unless something is being blown out of proportion and then suddenly, I am in an ignorant art school. I hope you can understand why I was put off by your insinuation. I do feel however, that my teacher, Mr Pete Emslie, can say whatever he pleases about art and animation because he discuses it on his own personal blog. I don’t see it as a respect issue at all. It is rather harsh criticism, yes, but that is someone’s opinion. I would think about what you consider to be respectful when my teacher is now being attacked and having his Profession being blown out of proportion.
Enough said about that, I have my different opinions on how successful the course will make its students after graduation. As I have mentioned before, it makes more sense to me to learn as much as you can so that you will be better prepared in what you want to pursue in art. It is apparent to us that doing what we love can sometimes be difficult in the economic sense. That is why students in animation have many options, which I feel is very important. When you say that traditional training doesn’t make good or successful artists, I would have to ask if you have ever seen the work of Sheridan’s Animation students. Not only is it good, but it gets the attention from the more successful animation studios such as Pixar/Disney, DreamWorks, Nelvana, etc. I could go on explaining my reasons for praising the traditional methods of animation, but I fear that this may be a lost cause. All I can hope for is that you understand why Sheridan’s Animation Department’s standards are set so high. We can’t move forward if we don’t try and make it better. Criticism will always be a part of the art world, no matter what style that may be. If that isn’t agreed upon, then don’t let it effect you.
Hi.
ReplyDeleteI've read a chunk of the commotion at both Cartoon Brew and the Cartoon Cave. Your last sentence spells out what's wrong with the animation industry, at least from the American perspective:
Animation is not only cartoon and entertainment. It is a wild spectrum of styles, it is an art form, great and rich. Let it be like this!
The trouble is that while many animators and animation fans complain about the field being ruled by non-artists, they themselves don't want animation to be art either! Disney had been a behemoth in the field for decades, in search of making the field more than simply crude drawings. They succeeded in more ways than one.
Yet people today seem to have a particularly allergic reaction to the Disney brand in general, and not just because of its present-day corporate influence. Because many people expect "animation" and "cartoon" to be one in the same, Disney has been criticized for being too arty by some groups, and too generic by other groups. The studio is now in an unfortunate position where they'll piss someone off no matter what they do. If they stick to their house style, people will get bored from the tried and true. If they try anything different, it's not "Disney". (They're currently having a hard time getting The Princess and the Frog off the ground without complaints from left and right.)
The same critical trend is happening to Pixar, in spite of their unprecedented success since its conception.
This is part of why American animation is relegated to a children's genre instead of a legitimate medium, because even people in the actual industry don't really know what the hell they want. Why should it matter if one cartoon is low-brow or generic if you're not allowed to aim high and experiment either?
As for your poster, it reminds me of a Marc Chagall painting, even if that's not your intention. Though just for the sake of readability, I do think that it needed better composition, particularly with the typography.
Thanks anyway for giving our undervalued medium a much-needed wake-up call.