Kagemono: The Shadow Folk

“The story of Beopup, a little fox who goes hunting in the woods and uncovers something rather unpleasant…”

Diggin’ this cute and whimsical (but a bit dark, too) animation by recent CalArts grad, Sabrina Cotugno. Enjoy!

A big thanks to Timo Cox for sending this one our way – cheers!

[ Kagemono: The Shadow Folk ]

posted by respondcreate on Jun. 10, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: animation, calarts, colorful, dark, hd, nature, sabrina cotugno, trippy, watercolor, whimsical

Little Boat

The attached first appeared on my radar over a year ago when it was initially released. We had recently featured This one time… – a bizarre, wonderfully inventive short by its creator, Nelson Boles – and, for whatever dumb reason, I figured I’d save his latest for later. Between now and then Little Boat has been pinging my consciousness at regular intervals and, when I saw it had been selected as a finalist in the 2012 Vimeo Awards, I figured it was high time I give it a proper watch.

Sometimes when I’m certain a film is going to be great I won’t press play until the setting is just-right. Often I’ll implore you to ‘grab your headphones’ or turn the lights-down and, in that regard, I try to take my own advice as much as possible. Most times that isn’t feasible and I’ll catch up on your suggestions and my own regular internet rounds while on the train or whenever I have a few minutes in-between keeping my daughter alive.

It’s a shame I waited so long to dive in to this one but I’m glad I made the effort to slow myself down before experiencing it. Everything about Little Boat is great – its whimsical, bizarre (and endearing) story is told entirely through quick vignettes of tightly executed, cell-shaded visuals backed with some excellent sound design that completes the immersion. It, like all great animated shorts, appears to be a snapshot taken from within a fully-realized unique world, wholly separate from our own. Nelson seems to have a knack for creating those so we’re excited to see what he’ll come up with next. Speaking of which, have you seen This one time… yet? It’s fucking great.

[ Little Boat ]

posted by respondcreate on Jun. 03, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: animation, bizarre, colorful, hd, nelson boles, water, waves, whimsical

Feed me rainbows

File under: LOLWAT

Bizarre, polygonal visuals from Marco Morandi set to some ethereal, atmospheric tunes by Ninca Leece. Thanks again, internet!

[ Feed me rainbows ]

posted by respondcreate on May. 17, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: bears, bizarre, colorful, dance, deer, electronic music, lolwat, music video, ninca leece, polygons, trippy, wat

Smug

Taking part in a conversation about what is or isn’t art is the intellectual equivalent of masturbation; it’s probably fun for you but isn’t of much utility to anyone else. I obtained a four-year degree in art during my early twenties which means – beyond accruing an obscene amount of debt – that I’ve spent more than enough time locked in my own head, enamored with how wonderful my own thoughts were on the subject.

This is not something I’m proud of.

That being said, I’ve found that thinking intentionally about anything is rarely a waste of time, just as long as you don’t allow the procesc to transform you into a pretentious douche. The net outcome of my autoerotic cognitive fiddlings? Two things:

1. I don’t see much use in categorizing things as art or not-art.
2. I tend to appreciate anything that exhibits craft.

The first item above is self-explanatory but the second is why I instinctually dismiss performance artists, ‘found-object’ impresarios or anyone else whose manifesto over-leverages the word ‘exploration’ and tend to revere potters, illustrators, photo-realists and graffiti writers.

Smug is an exemplary example of the latter two. Anyone who has attempted to draft anything with aerosol will attest to how difficult it is to get it to do what you want it to. I tried my hand at it during my late teens and was instantly repelled, knowing immediately that I didn’t possess the patience to be competent, let alone great. Just look at the images I’ve collected above, marvel at their draftsmanship and the artist’s mastery of color – can you believe a human being is capable of this shit? Attached is just a small sampling of his work, hit up his Flickr for loads more.

Probably my favorite artist right now is Kid Zoom who we featured back in December. Click that last hyperlink if you know what’s good for you.

[ SmugOne ]

posted by respondcreate on May. 08, 2012 in Pictures  |  tags: art, colorful, drawing, graffiti, painting, smug, trippy

will

Oof.

Pay attention to the color in this one. Notice the differences in palette when it’s just the father or only the daughter; this is the arrow, pulled deftly from the quiver and notched silently to the string. The bow is drawn at 3:21 and, by the time it is loosed at 3:27, there’s no time to get out of the way. Just let it hit you. In my case, the aim was true.

Cheers to Eusong Lee, a student at Calarts, for the stellar job.

[ will (director's cut) ]

posted by respondcreate on May. 03, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: animation, calarts, colorful, death, eusong lee, geometric, hd, spiritual

iv.10

About three weeks ago Scott Benson tweeted about an apparent segment of the population that thinks animation used to be better then. Wait, did I just link to a tweet? I think I can swing a copy/paste of 140 characters for proper context: “Those who claim that modern animation doesn’t match up to an earlier period aren’t on the internet. It’s the best era of the medium NOW.”

I get what he’s saying – and honestly, I agree – but these are just subjective opinions based on our personal preferences. I’m one of those annoying assholes who, when someone says something is ‘better’, quickly attaches an unsolicited ‘for you’ suffix to their statement. It’s a knee-jerk response conditioned by years of being told the stuff I liked was somehow inferior. Like, for instance, finding out that the particular genre of music I instinctually enjoyed was ‘gay’.

But I like it, isn’t that the whole idea?

I’ve noticed that when the creative efforts of the present are derided it’s because, in the eyes of the ‘haters’, modernization has somehow ruined a sacred process that didn’t need fixing in the first place. In terms of animation, I think there’s something magical about a huge team of people collaborating together to render each cell by hand, nary a computer in site. Certainly the barriers to entry with a process like this (an ability to draw well and a near unlimited supply of patience etc.) tends to keep out the casual riffraff. But this kind of leave-it-to-the-experts, country club, gated-community/ivory tower mentality to creativity is just the un-evolved primate, fear-of-death-and-the-future part of their brains talking. Just go out and make shit; pay their chest-beating no mind.

We’re living in an age when someone like beeple can, with the help of a microprocessor and a generous swath of free time, create his own distinct flavor of audio/visual experience (like the attached) without having to compromise with bean-counters, standards and practices or really anyone for that matter…all from the comfort of home. When else in the past would someone fund a bizarre little film like this? With it’s quirky soundtrack and abstract visual accompaniment where each-and-every blip and beat has its peculiar, candy-colored visual equivalent.

We are in the age where anyone can make what they want and get it out there for virtually nothing. That’s the dream, right? Fuck yes; what a wonderful time to be alive.

Wired has a great write-up on IV.10 which is definitely worth checking out, as is the other beeple stuff we’ve posted; it’s all worth your time. Also, the aforementioned Scott Benson’s The Murf is fan-fucking-tastic; if you haven’t seen it yet don’t hesitate to click that last hyperlink.

Cheers to Sam Lillard and Santi Adams for sending this one our way. Thanks!

[ IV.10 ]

posted by respondcreate on Apr. 17, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: abstract, animation, beeple, bizarre, colorful, electronic music, hd, trippy

Changing The Rain

Just a heads-up: you might not be able to watch the video here (if you can’t then click here). Why? VEVO. My disdain for the service is well documented but I’ve softened a bit and think a personal grudge towards a distribution model (with an unnecessarily shitty user experience) is a poor reason to not share these tasty bits with y’all. Plus, if MADE ever uploads a HD version to their Vimeo account I’ll just update the post. You dig?

Anywho, this shit is doooooooope; a glorious four-and-a-half minute technicolor psychedelic romp down geometric wormholes, past kaleidoscopic alien abductions and into the mouth of God. Full 1080p too, so get this shit full screen.

Pete Fowler directed this one and, if you’re not familiar with his work, I recommend you head over to his Flickr account immediately; his bold graphic style is a treat. Oh, and if The Horrors intoxicating blend of starry-eyed, psychedelic, rambling synth-drenched rock is your thing I recommend you check out Skying for lots more of the same. It’s the kind of album you’d want on a road trip; it’s cinematic but contemplative, bright and big but a bit lazy, too. It’s all rather nice really and easily worth the ten bucks.

A HUUUUGE thanks is due to Naz for sending this one our way…cheers!

[ The Horrors - Changing The Rain ]

posted by respondcreate on Apr. 16, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: aliens, bizarre, colorful, geometric, hd, kaleidoscope, made visual studio, music video, pete fowler, psychedelic, spiritual, the horrors, trippy, vevo sucks, wormhole

Psychic Land

The first thought that popped into my brain after watching the attached: I want to go to there. The second? 2veinte should develop this into a 30 minute show. No dialogue, no traditional story arcs; just weird, bursting-with-candy-color visuals backed with arcadey, reminiscent-of-a-Casio-keyboard-demo-mode tunes. WHOWOULDN’TWANTTOWATCHTHATAMIRITE??

2veinte is giving away free Psychic Land posters to fifty random fans of theirs on Facebook. They don’t seem like the constantly-spamming-your-newsfeed-type so if you want a chance to win some rad art for your wall you might want to head on over; the effort-expended-to-possible-reward ratio skews generously in your favor.

Oh, and be sure to check out Let’s Face Symmetry – also by 2veinte – which we posted back in August.

[ Psychic Land ]

posted by respondcreate on Apr. 08, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: 2veinte, alien, animation, bizarre, colorful, geometric, hd, lolwat, lucas totino tedesco, pablo gostanian, wat

Micro Empire

“As an enthusiast for little things, I wanted to go deeper than the macro universe, so I found myself hanging on the eyepiece of a microscope. The real challenge was definitely the small depth of field in microscopy. It’s really fascinating how detailed this tiny world is, and unbelievable how much is going on in only one little water drop.”

Visuals by Clemens Wirth, sounds by Radium Audio. If you like this kind of stuff then be sure to check out Clemens’ Vimeo page, especially his excellent three-part macro kingdom series.

[ Micro Empire ]

posted by respondcreate on Apr. 06, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: alien, clemens wirth, colorful, hd, microscope, nature, radium audio

Cerulean

Yes please.

OK: headphones-on, lights-down, full-screen and volume way-the-fuck-up. Today’s heady dose of deep, dubby, synth-drenched, head-down tech-house goodness is generously provided by the always-right-on Simian Mobile Disco. It’s a tune from their upcoming album Unpatterns which, for me at least, will be an instant purchase when it’s released in a few weeks on April 15th. If you’d prefer a physical copy of your music – in spite of the fact that we’re firmly in the age of instantly-transmittable bits – you can pre-order it on vinyl or a CD right now via the Wichita Recordings website.

It’s not just the music that’s top-notch but the just-under seven minutes of tastefully restrained, simple, tight, geometric, sometimes-in-sync-and-sometimes-ambling visuals (as created by long-time Simian-collaborators Jack Featherstone and Will Samuel of London-based ISO), too.

We love shit like this, Jordan – thanks so much for sending it our way. Cheers!

[ Simian Mobile Disco - Cerulean ]

posted by respondcreate on Apr. 02, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: abstract, animation, colorful, electronic music, geometric, hd, iso, jack featherstone, music video, simian mobile disco, trippy, will samuel

My Bloody Lad

File Under: LOLWAT

Visuals by Dead Walter (a.k.a. Cyrille Chauvin, Guillaume Dousse, Thibaud Petitpas and Pierre Rutz) with ‘choons from Dirty Deeds. Enjoy!

[ My Bloody Lad - Dead Walter - WIZZdesign ]

posted by respondcreate on Apr. 02, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: animation, bizarre, colorful, cyrille chauvin, dark, dead walter, french, gobelins, guillaume dousse, hd, horror, lolwat, pierre rutz, thibaud petitpas, wizz

Childhood of a Circle

“Archibald lived in harmony with the surrounding world. Sometimes, after lunch, he would stroll along with a herd of mushrooms…”

I have a distinct memory of watching The Red Balloon in kindergarten. My overall recollection of the event is warped and faded but certain moments are forever burned into my mind. Strangely enough, all of them have nothing to do with the film itself: watching the reel-to-reel projector as it was wheeled in, perched heavily atop a sturdy steel cart with squeaking castors, its bottom shelf empty save for a large metal disc of tightly wound 8mm; the flurry of satisfying clicks and snaps each part on the projector made as my teacher deftly manipulated them into place; the lazy way the bulb brightened and the gentle warmth it radiated, the steady hum of the cooling fan and the slotted shadows its vents cast on the ceiling.

I’ve found that the electricity of a memory varies greatly depending on how old you are and grade school, for me at least, was a time when any new experience would surge through my brain like alternating current.

I felt so calm; so fine-with-everything as it played. It was nice; I wanted to stay there forever. The attached film, by French graphic designer/filmmaker/musician Kadavre Exquis, evoked a similar reaction; the richly textured, meandering landscapes and simple innocence of the characters made me want to melt through the screen for an aimless stroll. It’s warm and peaceful and colorful and chill and, well, lots of things really. The story is nice but it’s over too soon; I watched it four times in quick succession in a failed attempt to prolong the experience. That being said, I was happy to discover that there’s an original soundtrack to Childhood of a Circle that is orders of magnitude longer. You can listen to the entire thing gratis on Kadavre’s website or get the bits to go for a very-reasonable ten bucks.

There’s lots of strange, enigmatic intangibles in his work that I’m drawn to and it’s been fun taking time to tumble down the rabbit hole in an attempt to unravel them. Needless to say, I’m excited to see what Monsieur Exquis will make next.

Oh yeah: full-screen and headphones for this one, y’all. Enjoy!

[ Childhood of a Circle ]

posted by respondcreate on Mar. 27, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: animation, chill, colorful, fantasy, french, hd, kadavre exquis, mellow, peaceful, texture, trippy, warm

The Bizarre World of Paul Robertson

I’ve found it’s always worth-my-while to periodically check in on Paul Robertson. My latest visit to his tumblr yielded a heady crop of candy-colored, bizarre and dark pixel art that I’ve collected here for you to peruse at your leisure. I was also pleased to discover he recently contributed some art/animations to Wizorb, a Breakout-meets-Zelda game by Tribute that’s available on Windows, Linux, OSX and the 360. After parting with the very-reasonable three-dollar asking price I spent a handful of hours combating evil in Gorudo and am happy to report it was worth every penny. In addition to Paul’s always-excellent pixel art, Wizorb‘s wonderful, nostalgia-activating soundtrack and just-right difficulty progression keeps a firm-but-friendly grip on your attention. So yeah, pick that shit up if you’re looking for something to fun to play; you can’t beat the price.

[ Paul Robertson ]

posted by respondcreate on Mar. 25, 2012 in Pictures  |  tags: bizarre, colorful, dark, illustration, paul robertson, pixel art, trippy, video games

Solipsist

For the past few weeks I’ve been moving all my stuff from one place to another and, just days ago, finally procured internet in my new home. I still had access to the hive-mind via my phone but the lack of a physical keyboard and suitably sized screen during my leisure hours made keeping the site up-to-date a bit difficult. I’m kind of paranoid about not making all of you happy. I want to make you happy – no, I need to, desperately so. This is a fools errand I know, but there are forces at play beyond my control.  The imperative to continually deliver fresh internets to you all is so ground into my psyche that any choice my consciousness might have had in the matter has long since desiccated into a dusty, shriveled husk that bares no resemblance to its former autonomy.

My obsession lies not in collecting hits, likes or followers but in generating a more difficult to quantify resource: genuine affection. I want you to like coming here. I want you to be pleased to see I have updated. I want you to come back. Why? I dunno. If I did the preceding paragraphs wouldn’t be descriptions of my damage but an excerpt from my manifesto and, since I don’t have one of those, it’s best if we press on.

Unless I’m missing something I think my motivations are, at their core, fairly simple: finding something that is awesome is, in fact, awesome. And sharing that awesome thing with others, sans any ulterior, self-serving motive is even awesomer. I like awesome. I crave it. I need that shit, man. Ergo, this website.

Wait, what the fuck are we talking about? Oh yeah.

So I come back from my little hiatus and see a whole bunch of great suggestions. It appears you guys like awesome shit, too! And you like the awesomer act of sharing it with others. This is nothing new to me but I like being reminded of it all the same. It just feels good. Genuinely good. You know, that super-warm feeling that inexplicably rises through your chest but evaporates the moment it’s consciously acknowledged? That.

It was brief and moving and authentic and great so thanks, bros and bro-ettes.

The suggestion bin was packed with it’s usual random succotash of trippy ephemera but there were seven suggestions for one video in particular and, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, it’s the one attached to the top of this post.

Holy shit, it’s so good. It’s like a narration-less David Attenborough style documentary that looks as if it was filmed on the same planet that Wanderlust is from.

In creating SOLIPSIST, Andrew Huang struck a near-perfect balance between two approaches that are often at-odds: the nearly-impossible-to-duplicate-otherwise tactility of shot footage with the absolute-control wacked-out-ness that computer generated imagery affords. I think you’d agree that he’s straddled this fickle, narrow fence with a deftness that must make other directors jealous. Or, in the parlance of today’s youth, Mr. Huang’s got his swag on.

The making-of for this one is can’t-miss-fascinating so, once you’re done watching the film, make sure you give it a watch.

Massive thanks are due to Cosmo, Sarah, Hess, Diego Martintereso, zak standel, Sam Lillard and Garrett for making sure I didn’t miss this one. Word.

If you’ve got anything you’d like me to see, fill out this little form and share the love.

One more thing! If you haven’t seen Wanderlust yet, I recommend you do that next. Cheers!

[ SOLIPSIST ]

posted by respondcreate on Mar. 12, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: andrew huang, bizarre, colorful, hd, mind bending, nature, psychedelic, spiritual, trippy

Rush Hour Traffic

“Take a sweet, gut-it-stuff-it then we puff it…”

Joey Garfield, one of the many talented directors at Ghost Robot, tapped Elliot Lim, Jason Esser, Aaron Kemnitzer and Nate Costa to create these über-dope visuals for some super-chill tunes by The Cool Kids.

It’s good times all the way around so sit back, relax and enjoy the colors.

[ Cool Kids "Rush Hour Traffic" ]

posted by respondcreate on Mar. 07, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: animation, chill, colorful, elliot lim, ghost robot, good times, hd, hip-hop, joey garfield, music video, the cool kids, trippy

Runaway

Diggin’ this embroidered stop-motion by talented craftsman Aubrey Longley-Cook. Check out his awesome blog, spool spectrum, to see more.

[ spool spectrum: Runaway via imgur > Reddit ]

posted by respondcreate on Mar. 03, 2012 in Pictures  |  tags: animation, aubrey longley-cook, colorful, craft, embroidery, spool spectrum, stop motion

The Work of Andy Gilmore

“A master of color and geometric composition, Andy Gilmore’s work is often characterized as kaleidoscopic and hypnotic, though it could just as well be described as visually acoustic, his often complex arrangements referencing the scales and melodies in music…” (more)

I first discovered Andy Gilmore whilst perusing Ghostly’s free-to-download wallpapers page. Even among all the truly top-flight work on display there Andy’s distinct, colorful, geometric and just down-right pleasing images stood out. The Hemicube is currently occupying the base layer of pixels on my Air and a few times already today I’ve employed Exposé to quickly sweep aside any obscuring windows to take in the whole image.

The six images selected here for your perusal were found during a quick once-over of Andy’s massive, seven page archive that houses, at present, one-hundred and fifty four images. So if this didn’t sate your appetite (and why would it?) visit there for a more considered, patient browsing session. Oh, and if you want some that are a suitable size to adorn your desktop just head on over to Ghostly, they’ll take good care of you.

Can I suggest an appropriate auditory accompaniment for your ear drums while your eyes take the colors in? If you’re up for it, give a listen to Get Better John by Mux Mool. I recently picked up his latest album, Planet High School on iTunes and, since then, it’s been in constant rotation through my headphones. Needless to say, I highly recommend you check it out.

[ Andy Gilmore ]

posted by respondcreate on Feb. 17, 2012 in Pictures  |  tags: andy gilmore, art, colorful, geometric, ghostly international, hypnotic, kaleidoscope, mathematics, trippy

Trichrome Blue

“Other companies may offer you paint, clothes, makeup, or any other range of objects to give you the experience of a color. A red convertible, blue wallpaper, yellow flowers, There are endless products to choose from. But at the end of the day, these are just objects, mere things. Trichrome can give you more…”

From the looks of it, Lois van Baarle intended this to be the first in a series of three films. There hasn’t been any new activity on the project in about two and a half years so I’m assuming she’s moved on. Bummer. The attached is a short, moody and ethereal sci-fi exploration into what types of products and services could soon be available in a future where technology continues to rapidly progress. Enjoy!

In addition to her animation chops Lois is also a fantastic illustrator whose work is definitely worth checking out.

[ Trichrome Blue ]

posted by respondcreate on Feb. 17, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: animation, colorful, ethereal, hand drawn, lois van baarle, ocean, science fiction, trippy, whale

Eyesdown (Machinedrum Remix)

A line in Resident Advisor‘s recent review of Mux Mool’s Planet High School (on Ghostly) instantly resonated me. Andrew Ryce described the album as, “an anomaly in an overcrowded field of beat music, preferring actual songs over sketches and loops, progression over attention deficit” and, in that one sentence, helped shed some light into my (sometimes) ridiculous tendency to instinctually categorize electronic music as either genius or shit. This type of knee-jerk hyperbole is, on the whole, unhelpful and (embarrassingly) dramatic but it also belies my childlike, underlying passion for the art form and its potential power. Beat-making is getting easier and easier these days but the core challenge remains the same: can you tease warmth and depth from a handful of overlapping loops? More often than not – with legions of producers tripping over each other to mimic Skrillex’s latest ‘drop’ – the answer is a terse and adamant ‘no’. But when it’s ‘yes’? Absolute fucking magic.

One of my favorite producers ever is Bonobo, a one man operation who has an uncanny ability to craft transportive electronic music. I could make my case with some flowery prose but it’d be far more economical to just have you listen to Recurring for the necessary evidence. This, a music video for a remix by Machinedrum of his tune Eyesdown, channels the fluid complexity of the original while ratcheting the mechanical syncopation to eleven.

Enter director/animator extraordinaire Anthony Francisco Schepperd (of The Music Scene, Wail to God and Two Against One fame) who leverages the organic-and-wispy-yet-bass-heavy-robotic intrigue in the tune as an agar plate on which to grow his infectious, signature visual approach. Oh and he crafted it all for Ninja Tune in just under a month. Pro.

The bass on this one is especially nice so get your headphones out. A big thanks is due to Sam Lillard who sent this one our way last night. Cheers!

We’ve posted loads of other fantastic Ninja Tune music videos, click here to see the complete list.

[ Bonobo - EyesDown (Machinedrum Remix 5" Edit) ]

posted by respondcreate on Feb. 13, 2012 in Videos  |  tags: animation, anthony francisco schepperd, bonobo, colorful, electronic music, hd, machinedrum, music video, ninja tune, trippy

Future Girl

No idea who made this so if anyone knows hit us up and we’ll update the post so credit is given where it’s due. Found via Peter Berkman’s fantastic tumblr.

[ Cyber Girl (GIF) via FMTOWNSMARTY > PEEEETER BERRRKMAN ]

posted by respondcreate on Feb. 10, 2012 in Pictures  |  tags: animated gif, animation, anime, art, colorful, future, pixel art, science fiction