Dispatches #8: Chris Childs' Recommendations
A free post with a selection of recommended viewing and reading from animator Chris Childs.
In this free ‘Dispatches’ post, animator Chris Childs shares a selection of things they have been reading, looking at and thinking about recently. Don’t miss my interview with Chris here on Edge of Frame, which includes an exclusive premiere of their hypnotic new work Submerged Head.
Painting: Craig Kauffman
CC: I feel an affinity to some West Coast artists in the US, because a lot of them seem to draw from animation (maybe because of their proximity to Disney etc). Kaufman’s paintings look like cells from some lost animated film.
https://spruethmagers.com/artists/craig-kauffman/
Animation: Peter Wachtler
CC: Like Sally Cruikshank, Wachtler uses cartoon aesthetics and mixes them with experiments in structure and length. His films usually have a character performing a repeating movement for a long time. His film Untitled (Rat) has a cartoon rat waking up and going to sleep in this endless cycle, while the artist recites this comedic/tragic monologue.
https://bizarbabies.etablissementdenface.com/artist/peter-wachtler/
Painting: Sophie Reinhold
CC: I like gallery artists who use humour in their work, and Sophie Reinhold’s shows always have an eerie comedy about them. I love looking at pictures from an exhibition of hers where each painting is a letter which spells out the word ‘MENACE’.
https://www.contemporaryartlibrary.org/project/sophie-reinhold-at-sophie-tappeiner-vienna-20794/
Animation: Diego Marcon’s Dolle
CC: Seeing this film at Sadie Coles a few years ago gave me so much confidence in animation being used in a gallery space. The talking moles in his film are technically robots which he filmed in live action, but I didn’t know that until afterwards!
https://www.sadiecoles.com/video/653-diego-marcon-dolle-exhibition-walkthrough/
Marc Jacobs SpongeBob bag
CC: SpongeBob SquarePants was the most formative cultural experience of my childhood. This is a bag designed in 2008 by Marc Jacobs which has embedded tv-screens constantly playing episodes from the show. It combines my childhood interests and my current interests in showing animation outside of the cinema-context.
Book: Phyllida Barlow, ‘Collected Lectures, Writings, and Interviews’
CC: I’ve become obsessed with sculpture in the last few years and this book of writings by artist Phyllida Barlow was very informative for me. It’s a great exploration of the different debates and histories in contemporary sculpture, as well as a testament to Barlow’s work as an artist and teacher.
https://shop.hauserwirth.com/products/phyllida-barlow-collected-lectures-writings-and-interviews/
Film: Andrew Norman Wilson, I Don’t Feel the Way I’m Supposed to Feel
CC: This film is an endless loop of a three-second clip from A Charlie Brown Christmas. It’s beautiful and hypnotic. It focuses on these little moments within the clip, like the carol singers taking a breath before performing, or the way the animated snow is falling.
“Delving into the many offerings of Edge of Frame demonstrates the rewards of taking a chance, of welcoming strange ideas and experiencing new things.”
- Little White Lies